Between the Devil and the Deep Sea
by Snowyflakes
Summary: After a hurricane shipwrecks a band of pirates on Outset Island, rats and mice begin to die off in large numbers and in unusual places. Isolated, a deadly fever holds the island hostage, and suspicion against the outsiders grows. Resilience mixed with luck is all Link's got when it comes to surviving both the horrors of the fever and his neighbors. Updates biweekly!
1. The Pirates

Between the Devil and the Deep Sea

1.0

The Pirates

It's the twenty-eighth of Kepakemapa when seagulls rest on the docks, squawking and ruffling their wings. Their heads dart around, round eyes large, as they take in the sunshine and foamy blue sea. Some of them strut about on the weathered wood, and the heavy footfalls of the people is hardly bothersome to the birds. They pick at crumbs from fallen food.

Outset is one of the largest islands in the Great Sea Republic, though it doesn't boast the hubbub of Windfall or Dragon Roost as the sleepy isle rests far south of Republic's other main islands. The docks' most frequent visitors are the picky seagulls rather than ships.

Aryll Forney stands among the flock of white birds, her favorite telescope held up to her eye. She peers through the thin tube and lens, scanning the ocean horizon. Waves lap at the shoreline far behind Aryll and at the posts that hold her over the water. The salty air of Outset fills her nostrils, and she breathes deeply. Wind whips at her pigtails and skirt of her floral dress, tangling the fabric between her legs. Despite the sunshine, Aryll feels a storm coming from the north as she watches the volatile waves churn on the horizon. "It's going to be a big one, don't you think?" she asks the gulls.

One pecks at her ankle.

Aryll shoos it away. "I don't have anything for you today," she grumbles at the bird, and then she looks through her telescope again and sighs.

The young girl spends the afternoon on the docks until Link approaches her. "What do you think?" Aryll asks him. She gestures out to the ocean with a hand. "Think it'll be a bad one?"

"Too early to tell," he mumbles.

He rubs the back of his neck.

Aryll peers through her telescope one last time.

"Come on," Link says. "Kūkū has dinner ready, and we're late."

With their sun kissed skin, golden hair and eyes as blue as the ocean, it's hard to mistake the pair for anything but siblings. Link Forney stands a good two heads taller than his sister. His longer legs carry him farther than Aryll, who occasionally has to jog to keep up with him, as they make their way up through town towards the cliffs on the eastern side of the island where their little house sits overlooking the crashing waves. For Link, the house is a nice haven away from the more populated areas of the island where the waves drift him off to sleep at night, and the seagulls wake him in the morning.

The siblings wave to their neighbor Rose as they trudge up the path to their home. The large woman gives them a cheery greeting and a wide smile as she waves back. She sits on her front lānai enjoying the early evening air while she waits for her husband and children to return home.

The old lānai steps of the Forney house creak and groan under Link and Aryll's weight as they climb. When Link opens the front door to their little bungalow, the pair is met with the sweet, hearty scent of the stew their grandmother made. It wafts throughout the house, and the siblings call out in greeting. Their grandmother strides out from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron as the siblings kick off their shoes.

"You're late," Kūkū chides.

The pair mumble their apologies. Kūkū shakes her head, reminding them that their parents raised them to speak properly. They mumble again in apology, and then the pair sneak each other smirks before following their grandmother into the kitchen.

Just as Aryll predicted, the storm rolls in during the night. The wind picks up speed, howling as it tugs on the leafy palm trees and drags any loose rubbish out to sea. Link lies awake, listening to the wind and pounding rain on the roof of their bungalow. He sleeps up in the loft area above his sister's and grandmother's bedrooms, so the rain is always louder where he lies. Link kicks off his blankets and crawls to his window but quickly abandons it and flops back into bed when he can see nothing distinguishable in the dark. Occasionally, flashes and streaks of lightning streak the night sky.

There'll be quite the cleanup in the morning, he muses, if the storm even passes before then.

But it does not. Rain continues to ravage the island, and the wind musters all of its strength. Trees are torn from their roots. Waves roll high up on the shores and floods the mainland. The bungalows close to sea level are raised up on posts for such storms, but even then the structures barely clear the waterline. The water that has pooled on the island cuts through the center, effectively carving the mainland in half. None of the islanders dare to wander from their homes until the eye of the storm comes to shadow them around noontime when the waves begin to lap lazily against the island cliffs and their homes.

Link steps out onto his lānai, calling to his grandmother. "Kūkū! I'm going down towards the docks!" He reaches back through the threshold for his skimmers and squashes them onto his feet while his grandmother protests. "I'll be fine," he promises as Aryll follows him out onto the lānai with her telescope in hand. "I'll be back before the rain starts again."

Feet pounding, Link rushes down the path towards the flood. "You be careful!" Rose calls out to him as he runs by. He raises a hand to acknowledge her, but says nothing. Some of the islanders living sea level hurry past him up to the cliffs for refuge, their most precious belongings in their arms. Link has to dart one way then the other to flit through the migrating islanders. Link keeps an eye on the dark, puffy sky, waiting for the first sign that the eye has passed over the island.

He passes Sue-Belle on the path. "Link! Where are you going?" the young woman calls.

"I wanted to check on the flooding and Orca and Sturgeon."

"Oh please!" Sue-Belle implores over her shoulder. "I tried to get them to leave, but Orca's being stubborn. Talk to Sturgeon!"

"Can do!" Link calls back to her, still rushing down the path and dodging fallen debris.

A palm tree had been uprooted during the storm, and it leans on the front lānai of Orca and Sturgeon's, the railing smashed in from the impact. Link wades through the ocean water, soaking his pants and shoes. The water weighs him down, slow and dragging, until he can pull himself up onto the steps of the lānai. Link sidesteps the scattered palm leaves, sea water squishing within his shoes with each step, and he bangs on the door, calling for the brothers inside.

Orca reluctantly answers. The door cracks open, and the bearded middle-aged man pokes his head through. "Link," he greets, but he says nothing more.

Orca is one of the island's fishermen, a seasoned seaman, and deadly with a spear and harpoon. Despite his age and thin, fragile appearance, the man still retains a stubborn vigor for life. As proof of his travels and trials at sea, his body is adorned with old scars and tattoos. His brother, Sturgeon, shares the bungalow with him, living on the second floor above Orca. Sturgeon is regarded as the island's medicine man. A well read, educated man that is just as traveled as his brother, though Sturgeon bears no scars or marking tattoos from his journeys.

For Link, the two men have acted as mentors and pillars through his teenage years since his father's passing. There's a feeling of kinship between them, Link believes. Orca and Sturgeon are outsiders on the island, just as Link's father was. Though the islanders are friendly, Link can't help but feel a certain distance between them and the outsiders. Link is unsure, however, where he stands among the islanders. Born on Outset, but the child of an outsider.

"Orca, come on," Link pleads. "The island's flooding." He steps aside and gestures to the docks where the water has almost overtaken. "Look! Once the eye passes, it'll likely flood out."

Orca scoffs.

Link starts shouting for Sturgeon.

Aryll stands on the cliff edge, peering through her telescope. The seagulls have tentatively poke out from their shelters and assess the changes around them, but Aryll pays her friends no mind. In the distance, she can see a ship on the water. She lowers her telescope and frowns as she look out to the horizon. The ship is but a blot on the deep, dark sea.

The soft patter rain begins to stir again by the time Link returns with Orca and Sturgeon in tow. Aryll points out the ship to them. The three men shake their heads. "Foolery," Sturgeon mutters.

Once the eye has fully passed from Outset, the storm hits once more at full strength. Kūkū gazes out the window, sliding and splattered with rain, as she cooks a hearty soup for the group with Link's help. Orca sits in one corner, focused on carving a piece of wood. His brother, Sturgeon, a stout middle-aged man, bald and hunched, sits nearby with a book in hand. His eyes flit over the lines of text with ease. Occasionally, he pushes his spectacles up a bit on his nose. Aryll doodles on some scrap paper next to the hearth.

By nightfall, the edge of the storm reaches the island. Link sets up some makeshift beds in the common room for Orca and Sturgeon before climbing up to his space for the night. The wind, though still strong, has begun to settle, and the rain is not nearly as terrible, but still, sleep is elusive for Link. The waves crash against the cliffs outside his window and lap at the rocks.

There's a creaking groan. It cuts through the night and the waves, and at first, Link just believes it's an auditory hallucination of some sort. But the sound erupts again across the island. He sits up in bed, waiting in the dark. He climbs down from his quarters, stepping carefully in the common room to be mindful of Orca and Sturgeon. He slips out onto the lānai, where the wet wood sticks coolly to the pads of his bare feet. The moaning is louder out here.

Link walks the lānai and leans over the railing to try and see down the cliff, but the darkness covers everything. The crashing, splintering of wood quakes through the storm, and Link bolts back from the railing. His eyes then catch sight of the small lights through the rain swinging from across the island.

His mind whirling, Link bursts into the bungalow, disrupting the brothers. "The ship!" he gasps. "I think it's crashed into the rocks!"

"Boy, you must be mad to want to go out there now," Orca grumbles.

"Please! What if they need help?"

Orca puffs his chest and considers the situation, and soon enough, Orca and Sturgeon relent to weather the storm with Link. The three men rush out the bungalow and into the storm carrying lanterns to light their way. Down the island they go to the raised sea level. Sturgeon holds the lanterns while Link and Orca recover one of the boats thrown during the storm. It seems to still be in good condition. When they put it into the water, the small boat still floats with no apparent leaks, though the darkness and rain make it hard for them to tell. The men decide to take a chance on it.

Sturgeon sits at the back of the boat, tethering up a lantern with the other sitting between his feet. The water has risen above the allowance from the posts at Orca and Sturgeon's home. Orca swims to his home, forcing his door open, the salt water pooling immediately into the home. Link drags the boat out into the water until his chin can barely break the surface. With Sturgeon's help he climbs aboard the boat, the little thing rocking to and fro as it tries to settle in the waves. Orca reemerges from the home with two oars in hand. He wades down the steps to his bungalow and tosses the oars out to Link.

As the men row out to the ship caught on the rocks off the island's coast, they can hear the orders howling over of the storm and sea to release the dinghies. Lights swing around on the deck of the ship. The blotted figures of men fight for their seats in the dinghies.

Link, Orca and Sturgeon eventually make it to the wreckage. They call out to the crew. A smaller, lithe figure appears, silhouetted by the swinging lights. The men scream for the figure. Another man jumps straight into the water. He surfaces and tries to grapple for a piece of debris to keep him surfaced. Link and Orca row their little boat up alongside one of the ship's dinghies. "What's wrong?" Link shouts out to them as Orca reaches out for the man clutching a splintered piece of wood. Orca pulls the overboard man into their boat.

"It's the young miss!" one of the crew hollers back to Link. "She won't leave the ship!"

"Is she thick?" Orca spits.

The young man accidentally knocks over the lantern at Sturgeon's feet. The light goes out.

The crew tries to encourage the woman to abandon ship, but she shakes her head. Link, soaked to the bone from the rain and ocean, loses his patience with the woman. A damaged dinghy slaps against the ship, so Link dives into the waves, heading for it. His hands grapple for the rope that still tethers it to the ship through a pulley. After tugging on it, Link finds that it still has a good hold within the pulley and careful to make sure that the rope doesn't slip and throw him back into the water – or worse, into the dinghy – Link takes hold of both ends or the rope and starts to little by little pull himself up the side of the ship.

"What're you doing, you idiot?" the woman screams at him, but she reaches out for him to help pull him on deck.

Link snarls at her. "They're waiting for you!"

"I won't leave this ship," she says defiantly.

"Are you serious?" Link bellows. "You've run straight into the rocks! She's done for!"

"Exactly!"

Unthinking, Link grabs the woman round the waist. The wet fabric of her nightshift is cool under his hot fingers. She kicks and screams. She beats his back with her fists, but Link throws her overboard. Her figure plunges into the ocean, and one of the two remaining dinghies holding the crew rushes forward to retrieve her when she surfaces.

The woman's surprise is only surpassed when Link opens the door to his bungalow and his grandmother catches sight of the motley crew. They are all soaked through like wet dogs with hair matted to their foreheads. The woman has a persistent frown on her face with her arms crossed.

"What's going on?" Kūkū asks. Aryll pokes her head out from her bedroom, her blue eyes round and wide.

"Their ship is sinking off the coast," Link gasps as he heads back to bed, peeling his soaked shirt from his skin.

In the morning, when the storm had finally passed from the island, the remains of the ship still sit off the coast. The islanders come out from their homes to assess the damage from the storm, and they point and gasp at the sight of the damaged ship caught in the rocks. The islanders that live at sea level all revel in the sight of the flooding that cut the island in two. Collapsed trees are hacked to pieces to be carried off.

Link catches sight of Rose and Sue-Belle sweeping lānais to clear them of debris. He stands leaning over the railing of his own lānai, looking out at the destruction on the island. He yawns some, cutting off the smell of his grandmother's cooking. Once the shock of the appearance of the ship's crew had worn off, Kūkū has been more than happy to have a few more mouths to feed and has been keeping busy cooking for the hungry crew.

He jumps a little at the sound of light footsteps behind him. Behind him is the woman he'd so thoughtlessly thrown from the ship. She has a thin mouth, pulled tight into a straight line. Her chin is raised, giving her a haughty air that rubs Link the wrong way. Link straightens and turns round to face her. "Thank you for coming to my crew's aid and giving us a place to sleep."

"My crew"? Her crew? _Her _crew?

"You're their captain?" he blurts.

Her brow furrows, and she scowls a little at him. "Yes, I am." She hesitates for a second, but then the captain sticks her hand out for the young man to take. "They call me Tetra," she says.

"Link."

She nods her head, and then looks down at her night shift uncomfortably.

Link turns and eyes the ship slowly being swallowed by the ocean. "If you want, since the ship isn't completely lost yet, I can take some of you back out there to try and recover some of your belongings… not in those little dinghies."

It takes her a moment, but then she bobs her head. "I'll let them know."

Aside from their petite captain, six of ship's crew made it through. A couple of men had been thrown overboard during the height of the storm, and it isn't likely that they'd find them again.

Tetra's second-in-command is a large muscular man by the name of Gonzo. He has a stern disposition and a short fuse, and the crew listens to him nearly as much as Tetra, who Link quickly learns has an iron fist over the men. Despite his appearance, the man has a soft spot, particularly for the captain.

The crew's lookout is a short man by the name of Zuko. While trying to make sure that Orca's boat is in order, Zuko follows Link around like a dog, pestering for paper and ink. "He's always like that, yeah?" Gonzo whispers to Link in passing. The large seaman says no more and turns away.

Apart from Gonzo, the other helping hand Link has – for Zuko was more of an annoyance – is a tall, strong, but effeminate man named Nudge. He is so soft spoken and quiet, that Link often has to ask the man to repeat himself.

In sharp contrast to Nudge is Niko. According to Gonzo, Niko is the lowest ranked member of the crew, the skivvy. Niko seems to be a bit younger than Link, maybe by two or three years, and like Zuko, follows Link relentlessly. "You have a nice boat," he comments.

"Not mine," Link mumbles, thankful when he hears Kūkū calling.

His grandmother leads the remaining seamen, their captain and Orca down the docks to the boat. Orca gives the boat a one over before giving a nod to Link. With the boat in order and the crew settled in, they set off for the sinking ship. More than half of the ship is sunk at this point, and Link grimaces at the damage it's suffered. There was no saving the ship. The damaged dinghy from the night before has disappeared, and occasionally they kick or push splintered planks of wood out of the way.

Orca pulls his boat up alongside the ship where the dinghy had been before being sunk. Using the old ropes as Link had the night before, the crew scale the ship. "Go with them, lad," Orca says. "Make sure they don't take more than we can handle."

"Right."

Once on board, Link scans the deck, but the crew have all gone below to see what's been swallowed by the ocean. He heads under. Along the stern is a single door facing another opening for another lower level. The door is slightly ajar, and Link carefully peeks his head in. The room is the captain's room, and Miss Tetra, as her crew calls her, is throwing clothing into a pillow sack. "What?" she demands, not turning to face him or even looking at him.

"Nothing," Link says sheepishly. "Everything alright?"

She huffs, blowing a jet of air from her mouth that puffs her bangs up. "I don't need much," she says, her voice much softer this time. Her eyes drift along the wall to a single portrait hanging above her desk.

Link steps into her room, and he gives a nod to the portrait. "Who's that?" The woman in the old pictograph, still in black and white, has fair hair and sharp eyes. A striking resemblance to the captain.

Miss Tetra informs him that the woman is indeed her blood, her mother in fact.

"I can take this to the boat myself," she says, and she brushes past him without another word.

Link sighs, standing alone in the captain's quarters. "Right," he breathes. The young man ventures deeper into the ship. The level below Miss Tetra's room has flooded to about knee deep towards the bow where the ship smashed into the rocks; soon enough the water will fill the level's floor completely. The six seamen were arguing towards the back, and Link catches bits of their heated conversation.

"No, no, we should keep this…"

"- This is from that merchant off the Mother and Child Isles…"

As Link steps off the narrow stairs, his eyes widen in realization. Water seeps into his skimmers.

_Pirates_.

He turns slowly and carefully approaches the band of men, some much larger and stronger than he. The pirates surround a large dining table, the dishware having slid forward towards the bow of the ship. Zuko is the first to spot him, jumping nearly out of his skin. The other pirates look up and stare expectantly at him. "Orca sent me to see if you need help."

"Orca?" says one, Senza, Link thinks.

Gonzo replies before Link, "The old man, yeah?"

He turns to Link, and in an attempt to intimidate the lad, crosses his arms over his chest and steps closer. Link considers himself to be of fairly average height for a man, but he can't help but feel somewhat dwarfed by Gonzo and Nudge. No matter how strong Nudge is, he does not boast the authority Gonzo does. Gonzo can't squash the islander's boldness, and Link cheekily retorts, "Didn't realize I'd brought pirates onto my island."

Gonzo claps Link's cheek lightly, and Link scowls a little. It's as if he were nothing more than a child. Insulting. "Let's just keep that between us then, shall we? Or perhaps…" The threat hangs silently in the air, unspoken, but all can hear it.

There's a clattering. All eyes break away and catch sight of a large rat nibbling at the remains of a meal on the table.

"Goddesses!" one of the men curse.

"Again?"

The seamen scramble, picking up whatever they can to beat the rodent. The rodent scampers from the table, and Link grabs a goblet laying at his feet. He manages to strike the rat once in the head, stunning it. Blood spurts from its mouth before Senza steps forward and finishes the poor thing off by stomping on its head with his boot.

"Are there more?" Link asks, taking a look at the rat. It looks bloated and fat. Abnormally large for just a normal rat.

"We've had a bit of a problem with rats since we attacked a merchant off the Mother and Child Isles," Zuko says.

Link frowns.

"Whatever," he says, turning to leave the pirates. "Just grab your clothes and what else you need or want."

* * *

I went on vacation, and I wrote two sentences for _Coin-Operated_. I'm not joking. I don't know where my drive went.

I was writing this in between some lectures in the spring when I wasn't playing games, and for the most part it's finished. I'm not too invested in this one, to be honest - meaning I'm not too, too concerned on how realistic parts are in relation to what I've researched. As long as it's plausible. If you're interested, the idea came about when I was researching different diseases transmitted from rodents, so most of this is based around Lassa fever. The mortality rates for Lassa fever aren't super high, if treatment is available, and it usually is. I'm not sure how high that percentage is without treatment, I couldn't really find anything on that. Buuuut. Hell, this is ficiton. Just enjoy the story.

The other part that I mean that I'm not too invested on is the lingo on Outset. The island lingo is Hawaiian, if you're interested. I don't speak Hawaiian Pidgin, I speak German and French, so it's not too in depth. Most of the terms used are for days of the week, months, nicknames (like Link's grandmother). If you actually do speak the language, that's awesome. It sounds really awesome, but I don't speak it, so mistakes are probably bound.

Updates every Friday though! Swear it. I am totally willing to rework things, so drop a word; nothing's set in stone on this one just because it's mostly finished.

Alright, stay fresh guys!


	2. The Voyage

Between the Devil and the Deep Sea

2.0

The Voyage

Upon Kūkū's insistence, and much to Link's objection, the pirates stay in their small bungalow, though it is clear there isn't enough space for all of them. Link suspects that she just enjoys cooking for the large bunch of men. Orca and Sturgeon return to their home to fix the damages from the flood once the water recedes. The island is still split into two, but the rift of ocean water between the two halves is low enough now that it only soaks Link up to his claves as crosses the eastern half to the western half.

He waves to Mesa, a known slacker on the island that grows most of the island's fruits and vegetables. He has his sickle in hand and is tending to his crops, which luckily made it through the storm as well.

Behind Link, the pirates' ship has almost been completely swallowed by the ocean. The main mast still sticks proudly out from the waves, though no flags adorn it.

Link crosses the shallow channel of water to the other side of the island, intent on heading back home. He runs into Grog heading back into town from the docks. He is thin, droopy-eyed and is most known for his strange, spiked haircut. Though Link isn't on very familiar terms with Grog, he still gives a polite greeting which is returned in kind.

Grog shifts a little on his feet and looks out at the pirate ship almost completely sunk into the ocean. "I hear your little guests will be staying with us from now on."

"I'm sorry?"

He nods at the ship. "One of them came to my sister to ask for some rooms at the inn."

"I see," Link says, biting the inside of his cheek. For the best, he supposes. The little house has been getting cramped with ten people crammed into it, and Link has been getting weary of Niko following him about. "I wasn't aware, but I can't say that I'm not glad."

Grog laughs at this. "I hear you. I would be getting a fever with all those people living in such a small space."

Link gives the man a tight smile. "Give Anju my best, will you?"

"Sure thing," Grog says, already on his way again. "See ya, Link."

As Link finally reaches the beaten path to his bungalow on the cliffs, he spies two of the pirates, Mako, a bit of a know-it-all bookworm, and Niko throwing something off the lānai that wraps around the house. "What're you doing?" he calls, making the two jump. They shuffle their feet and mutter to each other as Link approaches.

"I found a rat!" Niko blurts.

"Excuse me?"

The meek skivvy puts his hands behind his back, and kicks one foot. He tries to not meet Link's eyes. "I'd accidentally brought a rat back from the ship," he says. "I wanted to keep it."

"You were going to keep one of those filthy rodents _in my house_?" Link roars. "Are you insane?"

Mako shakes his head. "The thing died this morning," he says. He readjusts his spectacles. "I just had him throw it into the ocean just now."

"For Farore's sake, we eat out here," Link scoffs. "Wash your hands. Now," he tells the skivvy and the bookworm. "If I find another rat, I'll kill it myself." Niko's head bobs up and down like a buoy in volatile waves.

Niko and the other pirates aren't so bad though, Link's decided. Niko, being the youngest and most childish of the group often begs Link to show them island games, such as 'ulu maika where players bowl stones, or whatever is on hand, through two stakes. Often times, whether by luck, skill or just sheer experience, Link beats Niko out, much to the young pirate's dismay. The other pirates laugh heartily and taunt Niko. To help regain his image and composure, Niko will puff himself up and declare that they'll play a real seaman's game. Much to the pleasure of the rest of the pirate crew, Link also has a tendency to win against Niko in those games as well.

The islanders are kind enough to the outsiders, but they keep a noticeable distance from them, which the pirate crew has taken note of. It doesn't seem to bother the crew very much. They're allowed join in community gatherings on the island, participate in games, but Link can see that they're treated much more harshly than the islanders and the few other outsiders like Orca and Sturgeon. For Link, Orca and Sturgeon have been Outset staples since he was small; he can't remember a time without the two, but he knows that while the islanders are more receptive to the long-time outsiders, they're still outsiders. When the pirate crew goes to the market to trade or purchase supplies, the island merchants set higher prices and budge less when they haggle. If the pirates are seen struggling, the islanders are reluctant to offer help, if they do at all.

Link quickly develops a feeling of an inexplicable kinship with the pirates, much like he does with Orca and Sturgeon. He can remember as a child being the last picked for games. His schoolmates chose to speak to him very little. With Aryll, it's much the same. The memory of her running home crying one afternoon when one of the other children in her class chopped off one of her pigtails surfaces in Link's mind. The children of an outsider, the two siblings are often held at a distance by the island elders, but Link knows that being born on the island has offered them more warmth.

While Link gets along just fine with the pirate crew, even with a few bumps here and there, their captain is another story.

When Link enters the home, he greets his grandmother and sister. "How was your day?" he asks Kūkū, bending low to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"Oh just fine," she says, waving him away.

Next to Aryll, helping skin sweet potatoes, is Miss Tetra, the pirate captain. Link gives her a polite nod which she returns. Aryll eyes the brief exchange.

Miss Tetra is about Link's age, making her younger than many of her crew, though she has a powerful command over them.

"Tell your men we don't keep pets here," Link says plainly. The captain raises an eyebrow, but she says nothing.

Despite their somewhat rocky start, they seem to have fallen into a tolerable rhythm. Within their first few days on the island, Tetra made it clear that she did not care for Link, and he suspects that she's still a bit bitter about him throwing her overboard. She often mocked him, though now that they have a mutual tolerance, she keeps the comments to herself. Aryll, however, has faired better in making the captain's acquaintance. His sister's admiration for the pirate captain grates a little on Link, but he tries to let it go. Tetra speaks softly and sweetly to Aryll and Kūkū. This, of course, has softened Gonzo, the first mate, to the two as well.

Aryll pipes, "They're going to stay at Anju's inn!"

"Oh yeah?" Link replies, though he's already heard the news from Grog, Anju's brother.

"Even Tetra won't stay."

"You need your space," the captain says.

Aryll gives Link a watery-eyed, pouty look. It's probably failed on Tetra already. Link doesn't budge much either. "So long as Kūkū doesn't mind," and his grandmother hums in allowance, "if they want to stay here, they can," Link says, leaving the decision open.

"It's not like we're leaving the island," Tetra reminds Aryll.

Link's little sister asks, "Are you going to live here then?"

"We don't exactly have many options with the ship gone."

The possibility alone excites Aryll, who asks Link to help build Tetra a house close to them.

He eyes the captain. "We'll see how it goes, Aryll."

The pirates eat one last meal with the Forney siblings and their grandmother out on the lānai. The salty smell of the sea wafts over the meal, and it fills Link with a sense of peace. The men joke and fill their stomachs, and Link's grandmother is more than happy to give them seconds if their stomachs allow.

Niko taps Link on the arm. "Link, I hear you and the old man," meaning Orca, "are going out on a trip in a few weeks."

"We're going crabbing with a few others," Link says.

"I'd like to come with."

Link glances at the younger lad. Although he's the lowest ranked out of the pirate crew, he at least has experience at being out at sea. Another hand on deck would definitely help. "Talk to Orca," Link says finally, taking a sip of his drink. "The decision's not mine."

The wait time before setting sail for crabbing fills Link with anticipation as the days drag on in 'Okakopa. Occasionally if the day is nice, he takes his waka ama, an outrigger canoe dubbed the Red Lion, out onto the waves, just to feel the salty winds in his face and hair and feel the warm drag of the water. When he takes his waka ama out, the seagulls chase after him as the wind fills the sail. Eventually when the wind dies, Link lies in the main hull while the seagulls settle on the outrigger hull. Lying in the hull, Link can feel the bobbing of the waves, the steady rise and fall.

When Link arrives on shore from one of these trips, it's the afternoon of the twentieth of 'Okakopa, and he's met by Tetra on the beach. He lowers the sail as she pads through the sand. She reaches out her hands, and without greeting, says, "Give me a corner." The captain helps Link fold up the sail, and she nods over at the red canoe. "This your boat?"

"It's called a waka ama."

"They don't have those up north," the woman says. Curious, she takes a closer look at the double hull vessel. One slim finger reaches out and scratches at the old, chipping paint of the main hull.

Although the other pirates have settled into the island inn, their captain remains in Link's house by his sister's insistence.

"Niko has taken quite a liking to you," she says as she turns and starts walking down the beach. Link trails along behind her at a lazy pace.

Link hums.

It's odd that she's seeking out a conversation with him.

"I'd like for you to talk him out of going crabbing with you and Orca," she says.

"I'm sorry?"

"He's not well," says Tetra, stopping just short of the path off the beach. "He's come down with a fever, though he insists it's nothing."

Link scratches at the stubble itching at his chin.

"Please Link," Tetra begs – how odd of her. "I don't think he'll make it back if he goes. He's not well at all."

Link goes to visit the young skivvy, holed up in Anju's inn. In exchange for their rooms, the pirates have taken to helping Anju and Grog out where they can. They tend to the cuccoo and cattle, and help clean and maintenance the inn as well. Niko has been in bed though for at least a couple of days with a fever that just won't break.

When Link tries to greet Anju, she barely snaps from her reverie. "Oh! I'm sorry!" she gasps when she finally realizes that Link is trying to speak with her, and the book she's holding slaps to the floor. He shakes his head and asks which room the pirate is in. Anju leads him to the room, but not without tripping over her own two feet twice. She shows him the room with a reddened face, still spitting apologies at her clumsiness.

Link brings up a stool and sits at Niko's bedside. "Look, about going crabbing…"

"I want to go!" Niko exclaims.

Link holds his hands up and offers an apologetic smile. "I know, I know. It's just, if you're not well still when we're ready to ship out in a couple of days, you'll have to stay here. We can't be always looking out for an invalid. Everyone needs to be at their best."

It takes some time, but the pirate finally relents.

When it comes time for the crabbing trip, Niko is still not well. Link visits him one last time before they ship out on Orca's boat. Link can see that he would not be fit for sailing the moment he opens the door. Niko is pale, sweating from the fever, and he is weak too from the illness. Link wrings out a cloth in some cool water and lays it over Niko's forehead.

Link promises him, "We'll be back soon enough, and we'll leave again soon. You can come with next time."

But when Orca's boat returns in the second week of Nowemapa, and Link steps out onto the dock, he can feel that something is different with the island. He eagerly stretches his bones and aching muscles, but once he shakes the stiffness from his limbs, something is still off. Something is not quite right at all. He turns to Orca, who nods, feeling the same malaise upon returning. Their trip was highly successful, but the strange feeling of the island on coming home deflates Link's previous elation. As soon as Orca releases Link from work for the day, Link hurries home.

His tired feet rush up to the western cliffs. He waves to Sue Belle, probably on her way home from Rose's. He throws open the door to the bungalow and sweeps Aryll up in a bear hug. Though she smiles at him, it's tight. "What's wrong, Brother?" she asks, with little laughter in her voice. "We've only been apart for a few weeks."

Link looks at his little sister, just starting to grow into womanhood. He sighs. She's less of a child every day. He swears she's gotten taller during his time away, but Aryll is not what's off at all.

"Brother?"

"I don't know," he admits. "And I'm not trying to hide anything from you. It's just… I don't know. Something's not well with the island; I feel it."

"You feel it?" Aryll frowns. "Oh," she says, and a shadow slips over her. "You haven't heard?"

"What's the news, my little sand crab?" he teases with a wide grin on his face despite the dread that's creeping and scratching at his heart. He finally releases her from his arms, and his little sister scowls some at his affectionate, but childish term for her.

"One of Miss Tetra's crew is dead," Aryll says. "Niko. It happened a few days ago."

Link's heart plummets. It falls straight out from his ribcage and sinks through his gut until it splatters on the floor at his feet. He stutters, "Wh-what?"

Aryll nods. "Yeah, Niko. The little one." She cocks her head to one side when Link continues to let the silence hang. "Were you good friends?" she asks.

"Where is Tetra?" Link manages to croak.

His sister barely gets out the answer before Link is bolting out of the house and down to the beach where he leaves the Red Lion. As he races down the cliffs to the beach, he feels something soft underfoot. Link pulls his skimmer away to find a mouse lying on the path, dead. He stoops to take a closer look at it. Blood has spurt from its mouth, though he's not sure if he's the cause. It strikes him that he may have killed the small the rodent, but he doesn't think much on that. No, that's not the odd part of it. Of course there are field mice and rats on the island, but the rodents are never this close to shore, and they certainly keep out of the open where men are known to frequent.

Link puts the mouse out of mind and hurries on to the beach. When he comes to the shore, the female captain is sitting in his canoe's main hull, staring out into the ocean. Seeing him approach, Tetra quickly wipes her eyes and nose, her cheeks a dark, rosy color. Her strange purple eyes are swollen and puffy, but Link doesn't comment on any of that. There's not much room in the hull, but Tetra scoots as much as possible to one side, and Link steps into the canoe. The two are squashed side-by-side, but neither seem to mind.

Link's thumbs fiddle with one another. "I'm sorry," he says softly. "What happened?"

Tetra's breath hitches, and she tries to beat back the sobs. Link waits patiently for her. "Less than a week after you left, he started vomiting. Blood," she heaves, her usual strong voice now cracking. "He was in so much pain, Link. I called for Sturgeon, but there was nothing he could do.

"We took him out to sea yesterday."

The fresh tears start to leak from her eyes, and she can't speak anymore. Link hesitantly reaches out to embrace her, but she doesn't push him away like he thinks she will. She instead curls into him, and his strokes her hair.

His eyes settle on the sea.

* * *

It's my one day off this week. I guarantee that even though I'm in overtime, they're going to call me today. (I'm not going to pick uuup.)

It's a nice day, so I'm going to set up shop out on my lawn, enjoy a good cigar, and probably wave at my neighbor that wears a tank top and shorts year round since he's always sitting outside. Yes, even when he's shoveling snow he wears the same thing - although he'll at least put on a vest if it's close to zero out.

Anyway, kick back guys. Enjoy some time to yourself. Until next week!

:x


	3. The Rats

Between the Devil and the Deep Sea

3.0

The Rats

The oddity that Link encountered upon his return of the mouse lying in the middle of the pathway turns out to not be such a queer thing after all. Instead, Link learns that the rodents are starting to come out of the woodwork more often since his return. Some of the islanders will even find them on the beach. What a sight, indeed! They begin to find some of the rodents dead in groups of two or three. Link wonders if it's something to do with the air.

He's heard of winter in other parts of the world where a thing called snow ravages the land, though under the hot Outset sun, such bitter cold does not reach the island. He's certainly never seen snow in his life. Orca and Sturgeon have, and when Link asks about it, he's treated to an afternoon of descriptions of the white, icy stuff. Orca even claims to have visited an island to the north that's completely encased in ice, though Link starts to discredit the old men's stories as nothing but sheer exaggeration after a while. The brothers even tell him about an island built out of a volcano where the lava never stops flowing.

Link didn't consider himself close to Niko, for they barely knew each other in his opinion. However Niko had made it more than obvious that he favored and admired Link, though Link still can't quite make sense of it. He supposes it may have been similar to the adoration Aryll shows Tetra. Still, Link mourns the loss with the pirates. Many of them try to pass off Niko's passing much like they had their other crew lost in the storm, but Link can see through the cracks. Nudge especially was sensitive after Niko's death. He is the only one Link can recall aside from Tetra who actually wept over the losses.

Tetra doesn't always return to the bungalow at night, a pattern that only began after Link's return. Kūkū worries restlessly over the captain and her remaining crew, and Link tries to smooth it over. Unable to find sleep one night, Link wanders down to the beach to listen to the waves only to find that he's not the only one spending time at the shore. He spies Tetra lying down in the hull of the Red Lion. The pendant of a necklace around her neck is fisted in one hand. They say nothing to each other, but Link squeezes into the hull next to her. Together, they take in each push the ocean gives against the waka ama.

In fact, Link and Tetra barely speak to one another, but Link can't help but notice a change in their rhythm. The dynamic between them has been upset, though not for the worse. Tetra is warmer to him, and if they need to work together, they do so in seamless harmony, and Link is silently thankful for the change.

It's not long after Niko's death that Sturgeon is called to attend to a few of the island's inhabitants. One is the inn keeper's brother, Grog, who complains of abdominal and chest pains. Another is Zuko, who has fallen ill with fever much like Niko had. The last is a man that lives higher up in the island's cliffs by Fairy Woods that Link does not know by name.

The pirates naturally fret over Zuko, Niko looming over them. Tetra attempts to visit, much to their displeasure. She doesn't even listen to Senza, who is considered to be her most trusted confidant. Even Gonzo cannot stop her from entering Zuko's room. It's only until she hears Link's soft voice cut through the crew's pleads does she stop. "Don't you see they're worried?" he asks her. Tetra whips her head around, her blonde hair nearly coming undone from its messy bun. "What if you catch it, too?"

It.

They have no real name for it, the inhabitants of Outset, but many have taken to referring to it as simply "the fever". The mysterious illness that hit the few already doesn't cause much of a stir at first, but the rodents do. Rose, Link's neighbor in the cliffs, is tending to her pigs when her scream stretches across half the island. A mouse, bloated and slow, is found near the pails of slop for the pigs. Rose manages to strike it dead with a bucket by the time her husband comes round from the house. Sue-Belle, who lives close to shore by Orca and Sturgeon, finds two mice lying dead on her lānai one crisp morning. She sweeps them from her home, her face scrunched in disgust.

When Link speaks to the pirates, they mention that all of Niko's belongings were plunged into the sea with him. Still, the pirates are finding rodents around the inn, and they do their best to exterminate the problem for Anju.

Sturgeon posts a letter out to an old colleague requesting help with the strange maladies on the island. The man living up near Fairy Woods has gone deaf and is vomiting blood and near death when Sturgeon receives a reply. Help and supplies will be coming on the next ship from Windfall. For Sturgeon this is a relief and a frustration. He watches as the man develops tremors. He's dead by the next morning, but Sturgeon has gained more patients to attend to. The body is carted off to the mortician by the island's gravedigger, Dampé.

A small merchant ship run by a man named Beedle usually stops off at Outset to trade in between the arrival of the larger supply ships from Windfall. Beedle stops coming to the island when he hears of the fever that is spreading among its inhabitants. Sometimes, Aryll can catch sight of his small ship through her telescope as he sails right past Outset as if the island doesn't even exist.

When the ship from Windfall arrives, there's a scramble from the islanders to trade or purchase supplies at the market from the merchants on board. Off the Windfall ship steps an older man, around Sturgeon's age, who completely disregards the mad scramble of the market by the docks. Balding at the top of his head and sporting large, bat-like spectacles, Dr. Borville has brought with him to the island his two young assistants. A researcher by the name of Shad fumbles with his books and papers on the docks, losing important information through his clumsy fingers. Dr. Borville's other assistant is a small, blonde woman. Dropping their luggage, she stoops and gathers up Shad's fallen papers and places them back in his arms. "Thank you, Ilia," the man mumbles and shuffles after the doctor.

The doctor and his assistants are met on the docks by Sturgeon. After a brief exchange of greetings and information, Sturgeon takes Borville and his assistants on rounds around the island to the patients complaining of symptoms similar to those that the fever have already taken – a total of now eight.

Link is present when Sturgeon brings the group by the inn to see Zuko. "Ah, Link," Sturgeon says pleasantly as the group steps into Zuko's room. "Please meet my colleague, Dr. Borville. These are his assistants, Ilia and Shad." Link gives them a polite nod as Sturgeon approaches "How is he?" the doctor asks.

Link moves away from Zuko's bedside. "The others are working on some lunch, but he's started vomiting."

"Blood?"

"No."

Sturgeon hums as he inspects Zuko. The pirate's face had begun swelling the other day, and Sturgeon prods the swollen areas. He asks some basic questions to Zuko, but receives no response. Zuko only stares blankly, giving an occasional blink. "I don't think he can hear anymore," Link says, glancing at the other doctor and his assistants.

Shad scratches at his chin. "A fever that causes hearing loss?" he wonders aloud.

"Yes, it's very strange," Dr. Borville says, approaching Zuko's bedside. "Have you seen this in other cases?"

Sturgeon nods. "It happened to a man I was tending to when I sent for you.

"Link works under Orca," Sturgeon adds conversationally to the group.

He can feel their eyes bearing into him, so Link slips out at the earliest opportunity. He finds Tetra and Gonzo playing konane, a game Link taught the pirates, in one of the inn's common rooms. The wooden board that rests between the two pirates has dozens of impressions, some filled with black or white stones. Gonzo contemplates his next move as Tetra gives a nod to Link as he takes a seat to watch their game.

"Sturgeon's help has arrived."

"What's that?" Tetra says. Her brow furrows a little as Gonzo makes his move.

Link clears his throat. "He's asked an old colleague of his to take a look at those with the fever," Link says. "Dr. Borville is his name, I think. There's two others with the doctor. They're all with Zuko right now."

Tetra nods. When she leans forward, Link can see the sparkling shine of her necklace through the open loop just under her shirt collar.

Later on in the day, Link walks the beach. The feeling of the warm sand on the pads of his feet and sliding between his toes is soothing, and his feet find a nice reprieve in the cool wet sand where the waves lick his feet. His skimmers hang off his fingers on one hand. Link has to tread carefully in the wet sand as debris from the pirates' ship has begun to wash ashore. Bits of splintered wood stick in the sand. He comes to a stop and stares out at the area where the ship had sunk off the east side of the island. There's nothing left of the ship to see by this point, of course, but the rocks are always there.

The fever came with the pirates, Link is sure, and he figures that soon the other islanders will come to the same conclusion, if they haven't already. Soon enough rumors about the outsiders will begin to spread among the islanders. Knowing this creates a stir in Link's gut. His imagination stretches to Dr. Borville and his assistants to Orca and Sturgeon, and by extension, to himself and Aryll.

His skimmers slip from his fingers.

Link stoops and picks up a piece of the ship and tosses it aside to clear a spot for him to sit in the sand. The waves lick at his feet and shorts as they roll in onto the beach. The seagulls caw as they circle the land, but their speech blends into the pulsing roar of the waves. The sun starts to sink on the horizon when Link begins considering making the trek back home. Kūkū will have dinner ready soon and will be expecting him, but the salty scent and calling of the sea keeps him rooted to the beach.

He's surprised when he sees Dr. Borville's young assistant approach. Ilia is her name, he learns. She's soft spoken as she treads around him, collecting samples off the beach from the ship remains. "We don't think there will be much that we can actually find… but it's worth a shot," she tells Link as she wraps up a piece of wood. "Don't you think?"

"You're grasping straws," Link replies.

Ilia pauses, sets her things down and takes a seat next to the young man. Her head inclines a little as she looks out to the rocks that pepper the sea's surface. She points. "The rocks out there are why the ship sunk, right?" she asks. "That's what Dr. Sturgeon told us, at least."

Link rubs his nose, trying to keep his eyes averted from her. "Yeah. I went out with Orca and Sturgeon to make sure the crew got off the ship alright."

This makes Ilia perk up a little. Link's a little offended when she bursts into his space, leaning in close to him out of eagerness. "Was there anything you saw on the ship that seemed odd?"

"Not really, no. I think they had a rat problem though."

Ilia frowns. "Rats," she repeats.

"we killed one on the ship the day after when they went back to gather some of their things."

"So their personal effects from the ship are _on the island_?"

Link hesitates to answer the demanding woman, but eventually he gives a curt, "Yes."

The assistant bolts up. "I'm sorry, I have to go," she says. Link just blinks. "It was really nice to meet you, Link. I hope we can talk again."

Link doesn't reply as Dr. Borville's assistant gathers her things and runs down the beach.

On his way home, Link spies Tetra coming down from the inn, and he can easily tell it's her since the woman doesn't wear dresses or skirts. Dressed in a shirt and pants, the pirate captain sticks out from the other female islanders. He waits for her at the crossroad, but is met with some hostility.

"What're you doing?"

"I just… I dunno. I thought I'd wait."

Tetra gives him a flat look. She turns on her heel and walks towards the Forney house. Tetra may walk fast, but Link easily keeps up with her. Eventually realizing she can't ditch him, Tetra starts to slow her pace.

"Do you think Zuko will be fine?"

"I can't say."

Her chuckle is sharp and harsh. She folds her arms, trying to fight the chill that the growing night throws across their skin.

As the two head up the path to the bungalow, their companionable silence is broken by a grunt of disgust from Tetra. Three mice lie dead in the grass at the edge of the worn path. "What's with this island and the rodents?"

"The mice are usually up within the forest. Not out here."

Suddenly, Link feels his gut churn. The impact of his conversation with Ilia hits him full force. A panic surges within his veins when he sees Tetra reach out to remove the mice from the lawn. His hand snakes out and traps her wrist in his hand. "Don't," he whispers.

* * *

Currently stuffing my face before work. Hooray for overtime?

Auuuugh. I have exactly one month now before I start classes again. I am _so_ close to being eligible to sit for my CPA exam, it isn't even funny.

I will have to catch you all on the flip side.

D8


	4. The Doctor's Assistant

Between the Devil and the Deep Sea

4.0

The Doctor's Assistant

The pungent smell of death fills the room.

Sturgeon is examining a middle-aged woman that just expired this morning. Her muscles have since tightened with rigor mortis, and livor mortis has started to set in. The blood has begun to settle in her back, staining her milky skin with a blotted, purplish hue. Her face had swelled in life significantly, and in death, it is just as puffed. Much like the young seaman that became stranded on the island, Zuko, she had lost her hearing before expiring. She complained of pains within her chest and back. Sturgeon is sure, without a doubt, that this was the fever.

He packs up his things, ready to move on to the next patient, but Sturgeon must wait with the dead woman until the mortician, the gravedigger or their help arrives. Some of the islanders have balked at being treated by Dr. Borville and his assistants, and Sturgeon begins to worry that soon they may not take exception to him; already some have attempted to steal away the deceased from Borville before the mortician arrived, and some had succeeded. He sits patiently with the body, the door locked shut from inside the room.

It is the middle of Kekemapa now. Cool crosswinds roll across the island. The window slats are open slightly to let in the cooling breeze. Waves crashing into the rocks and the cawing of seagulls drifts into the room where Sturgeon sits with the corpse.

The island gravesite is fast filling up. The gravedigger, Dampé, can't keep up with the influx of bodies, and he works his hands raw digging new graves. Far up on the eastern cliffs of the island, smoke rises from the crematory. The cost for cremation and burials has been driven so far up, that there are many who cannot afford to pay for their loved ones to be buried. So at night, sometimes under Aryll's watchful gaze through her telescope, Dampé will ferry the dead out to sea.

So Sturgeon waits until the men arrive to carry the woman off. Eventually, she will end up in Dampé's hands as she passed off to either the earth or sea.

Borville is attempting to create a cure for the disease. If allowed, his assistants examine the remains of the fever victims and the rodents in attempt to pinpoint the disease, but the period of time between now and Borville's cure is already being stretched too long. Word has spread across the sea of the fever on Outset. The Rito mailmen have stopped coming to the island, wary of catching the fever. Ships won't come down to the docks. Sturgeon wonders if the ships will stop coming at all. He supposes it's only a matter of time. Supplies are running low, and prices are going up.

Desperate to get away and save themselves from the disease, some of the islanders are attempting to leave, but Sturgeon knows. The ones who leave don't have a chance either. The outside world has already begun blocking Outset out, isolating it more and more each day.

For Link, the fever thins the line he totes with the islanders. It's no secret now that the fever is coming from the infected mice and rats on the island. He's told no one about the rats on the pirate's ship, and he's sure that Orca and Sturgeon have said nothing as well. As for the pirates, many of the islanders outright ignore them or only interact in the most basic ways. It's the outsiders' only secret. It may be their secret, but it doesn't stop the islanders' suspicions.

At the market, Link fights with other islanders as fresh produce from other islands have finally arrived through much bartering and begging. He struggles against the tide of people to get to the stalls and get what his family needs. The merchants are bartering harder than usual with Link, and the cost is steeper than he's used to. Frustrated, Link leaves successfully with the items the house needs, but at a much higher price.

As he trudges home, Link spies Sturgeon following Gonzo and Nudge. Between the two pirates is a stretcher carrying a shrouded lump, and Link knows exactly what's happened. The three stop as Link comes close, and the pirates give him a short greeting. Link's eyes settle on the lumpy figure on the stretcher.

"Another one?"

Sturgeon nods. "Afraid so."

The pirates, desperate for work, were able to strike a deal with the mortician and gravedigger to help recover the many bodies a couple weeks back. Sturgeon was the one to suggest it originally, as the burly pirates are a nice determent for islanders attempting to steal back the fever victims' bodies.

Link looks to Gonzo and Nudge. "How's Zuko?"

Though the pirate survived the fever by a bare thread, Gonzo informs Link that Zuko is still deaf. "Do you think it's permanent?"

"Quite possibly," the doctor muses.

Sturgeon gives a curt nod to the pirates to continue on without him. Link sends off his regards and turns his attention back to Sturgeon. "Link, I'd like you take some samples to Dr. Borville for me, if you will," Sturgeon requests.

Link's eyebrows raise, and his eyes dart to the bag of produce in one hand.

"After you return your grandmother's shopping," the doctor adds.

Somewhat reluctant, Link accepts a small bag from the island doctor and bids his elder a good day.

The bag in his hand tingles his nerves. Though he is curious of what the samples are, Link doesn't dare open to see, preferring ignorance. The young man hands off the bag from the market to Kūkū, promising to return soon from his next delivery. "Don't be too late," his grandmother says, readying a pot. "Dinner's no good cold. Find your little friend as well." Link almost scowls at the mention of Tetra accompanied by a wink from Kūkū.

At Sturgeon's office, Link pokes his head through the waiting area. The room is dark, but he can see the flooding of light slipping through the cracks of the backroom door. He wanders past the examination rooms and Sturgeon's private office until he reaches the backroom. The hallway bends off to the right of the door Link stands before, but every other room down the way is dark as well. Suddenly, the bag containing the samples feels heavier in Link's hand as he reaches for the doorknob.

The door creaks as Link opens it, and he peers into the backroom. "Dr. Borville?" he calls.

"What're you doing, boy?" the doctor snaps, and his two assistants jump. "Ilia," he toots with a wave of his hand. All three of them are wearing white masks that cover their noses and mouths. Sterile, white gloves cover their hands. Ilia darts past Link, opening a drawer. She pulls out a mask and quickly secures it over Link's face. Her hands, hovering in the air, linger at the sides of his face. Green eyes search his, and then she pulls away, stealing his breath with her. Link shivers as gooseflesh rushes across his arms.

Shad is in one corner of the room, scribbling away. His back is hunched, and his neck is curled over his notes as he scrawls everything down. Dr. Borville is peering through a microscope, humming slightly to himself. Cages of rats and mice line one of the walls, some of them are being individually kept, others in groups.

Ilia eyes Link expectantly, and he suddenly remembers the weight in his hand. "Sturgeon sent me with some samples. What's going on?"

"We'll be calling for a quarantine," says Ilia.

Dr. Borville adds, "This might be pneumonic."

Link glances between the doctor and his assistant. "I'm sorry, what?"

Shad straightens from his writing. "The fever is a virus that might be spreading through the air," Shad explains. "We're going to have to keep the sick separated from the healthy."

"It might be too late though," Ilia says. "We believe we've identified the virus, but we're not sure how long it takes to infect."

"Oh" is all Link can manage at first. Nothing can encompass the dread seeping into his being. Like creeping fingers, it crawls through his veins with nails scratching all the way. It settles in his heart and gut like lead weights, pulling him down and violently sloshing the fluid in his stomach. Then he breathes out, "Goddesses."

Ilia lifts the bag from Link's fingers and takes it over to Dr. Borville.

"So what happens now?"

"The quarantine…" Borville trails. "The cure may be difficult, especially if the island is put on quarantine."

"What do you mean the island?" Link asks, slightly alarmed. "I thought it was just the sick?"

Shad says, "The other islands fear catching the fever. I'm sure you've noticed that ships from the other islands have already begun to isolate Outset."

With downcast eyes, Link mumbles, "I just didn't think…"

"Things will get much worse before they get better, Link," Shad quips, turning back to his notes.

The doctor hands Link a few other masks. "Here, boy," Dr. Borville says, and Link internally scowls at the term. "For the family."

Kūkū is washing their clothes and linens again when Link arrives. Since Niko fell ill, his grandmother has been vigilant about keeping clean. Link hands her a mask. "From Dr. Borville," Link mumbles as he pulls his mask down around his neck. She inspects the slip of white material.

Tetra arrives late to dinner, though Aryll and Kūkū have finished, she joins Link at the table. Kūkū prattles on the day's mundane events as she takes care of the dishes, but for Link and Tetra, her words just float through their ears. Eventually the elderly woman finishes her chore and retires for the evening. Their dinners have long since gone cold. Tetra takes small, slow bites, and she chews each bite for far too long as she mulls. Her eyes drift to Link sitting across the table from her as he pushes his food around on the plate.

"What's with the thing around your neck?"

Link blinks as he's suddenly thrown back into the here and now. "Hm?" he hums. He glances down at his chest to see the scratchy white mask still hanging from his neck. "Oh."

Tetra frowns at him.

"Borville thinks the fever is new-nome-ack or something."

"I don't get it."

Link shrugs, and goes back to playing with his dinner. "I don't either. Apparently it spreads through the air?" Link points at the counter where his grandmother had left the last mask for Tetra. "There's one for you."

"I saw that fellow – whatsit, Mezza, the one that lives by Orca – packing up. Says he's going to get off the island."

Link grunts.

"He won't get far. You know?" She chews thoughtfully. "They'd probably charge us an outrageous amount to take us out of here."

Link mumbles.

"What?"

"Outset is going to be quarantined."

Tetra shoots him an almost bored look before rolling her eyes. "Like we aren't already? Din, and masks?

"Listen," Tetra sighs. "You haven't… you haven't said anything to anyone about what we are, right?"

Link pauses. Blinks. "No," he answers slowly. "Why would I?" He isn't one of them per say, but Link and the pirates are alike.

Tetra says nothing more and turns her attention to her plate.

Once her plate has been cleared, Tetra rises from the table. She eyes Link, who is still playing with the remains of his food. "Either eat it, or feed it to Rose's hogs," Tetra demands. She kicks her chair back under the table. The captain glances at the mask briefly, but she leaves it where it sits. Stretching her limbs, the captain yawns, "I'm going to join Aryll and look at the stars."

Link drops the fork in his hand. "Will you be going to the beach tonight?"

Tetra doesn't answer.

Link does as Tetra asked, and he feeds his neighbor's pigs his dinner scraps. They gather at the trough, squealing with excitement all the while at the new addition, though it's not much. Link sets his bowl on the fence post, intending to retrieve it later.

The mask is still strung around his neck, and it bounces against his chest some as he jogs down to the beach. He catches sight of Sue-Belle out on her lānai and waves to her. Her brow crinkles as she watches him pass, and she lazily returns his greeting with a flick of her hand.

As soon as his feet hit the silky sand, Link kicks off his skimmers to feel each grain between his toes and to let his heels sink in. He stands still for a moment, just trying to enjoy the feeling of sand underfoot. A deep breath of air from the sea fills his lungs. The salty scent is so familiar and fresh to him. Link walks through the sand with slow, purposeful steps as he tries to soak in the feeling of treading through the sand and commit to memory forever.

Down the shore in the opposite direction of where the Red Lion waits for Link is one of Outset's lookout points. This particular one is one of Aryll's favorite spots to gaze out at the sea and sky. Though Link can't see any figures on the platform in the night, he's sure that Aryll is up there. The cawing of the seagulls reaches his ears, and he lingers for a bit on the beach before turning away from the lookout.

When he reaches the Red Lion, Tetra is not there. The young man seats himself on the edge of the waka ama's main hull. He throws his skimmers into the hull and digs his feet into the wet sand. The salty waves lick his toes eagerly. The tide is at a low point, Link notes.

Time passes, but Tetra doesn't show. Link moves to lie down in the canoe when a glint under the moonlight catches his eye. He picks the object up to inspect it, turning it over in his hands. It's a necklace. His brow wrinkles as he squints in a vain attempt to see details in the dark. He scratches the back of his neck and pockets the jewelry.

A ball of light bobs in the distance.

His heart skips a little. Tetra?

"I was starting to think you wouldn't come," he calls out to the light, laughter lacing his voice though he tries to beat it back. Sitting on the beach at night nowadays is almost… lonely without the pirate captain. Though both would loathe to admit it; Tetra more so, he thinks.

The light stops.

Link's brow knits, and he hesitates slightly to call out again. Not Tetra?

The light begins to bob violently. It swings as it grows bigger, coming closer to him, and he can see the shadows of the slim figure as it approaches. "Link?" the figure calls. The light lifts up, illuminating the face of Dr. Borville's assistant Ilia. The mask is still secured around her mouth and nose. "What're you doing out here?" she asks him, coming closer to the Red Lion.

"Sorry," he mumbles softly. "I thought you were someone else."

"Oh!" she gasps. "Are you meeting someone?"

Link gives a noncommittal shrug in the lantern's light, doubtful that Tetra will come.

"That mask will do you no good hanging around your neck, you know."

Link fingers the mask, eyes downcast.

Ilia rips her own mask from her face, and she lets it hang from her neck as well. Link's brow furrows and he asks, "Aren't you worried?"

The doctor's assistant shrugs. "Honestly? I don't know how much good it'll do me, all things considered." Ilia plops herself on the side of the hull much like Link had done earlier. She sets her lantern down inside the waka ama's hull. "I'm around the sick all day. If I catch it, I catch it. That was the risk coming here."

Link nods. "I understand."

The assistant wags her finger at Link. "You, however…"

He smirks a little.

Brushing the fever aside, their conversation turns to much lighter topics. On occasion, Link's eyes will drift off to edges of the beach, searching for any other moving specters of the night, or to the strange moonlit shapes of Aryll's lookout. He listens as Ilia tells him stories of Hyrule, a place he'd only ever heard of from Sturgeon and Orca. Being from Ordon, so far off in the north, Link asks Ilia about the seasons.

"The seasons?"

"Orca and Sturgeon have told me about snow a few times."

"I guess it never gets cold enough here for snow, huh?" Ilia muses, eyes sweeping the dark beach. "It doesn't really feel like winter without it."

"Does Ordon get a lot of it?"

Ilia's feet kick and slap at the incoming waves. "It gets its fair share. There are mountains even farther north," she says, "and those are covered in snow year round, I hear."

"You never been there?"

She shakes her head. "No…"

"Are your trees different?" Link asks. "Some of the other islands don't have our trees…"

Eventually, Link climbs out of the boat and stretches his limbs. "I'm sorry," says Ilia, to Link's surprise. "I've kept you up."

Link shakes his head, scratching at his stomach. "I don't sleep much these days."

"Neither do I."

He steps around the assistant, intent on heading back to his bungalow. The lantern squeals some when Ilia picks it up. She trails along behind Link as they make their way off the beach.

When Link makes his usual turn to head home, Ilia's footsteps stop. He turns back, and the assistant flashes him a smile. "I guess this is where we part," she says.

Link mumbles back.

Ilia's smile falters, not understanding him. "Well, thank you for the company," she says. Swiftly, she reaches up and plants a quick kiss on his cheek. "Till next time, then?"

He waits, stunned, until she disappears from his sight before he turns and runs the rest of the way home.

* * *

I've been trying like crazy to finish _American Psycho _finally. I always start it and then get sidetracked and stop reading. I started reading it like... I don't know. It's been a few years. Honestly, I skim the chapters where Bateman is just ranting about Whitney and other artists. He's an interesting narrator, but oh my god one paragraph can stretch six pages as he details all these name brand items. _I do not care what Tim Price is wearing_.

Now excuse me, I gotta return some videotapes.

Dx


	5. The Locket

Between the Devil and the Deep Sea

5.0

The Locket

Link lies on his bed, soaking in the warm morning sun. The necklace he'd found lying in his boat last week is in his hands, and he turns it over as he examines it. It's a pretty thing, he supposes, and it's probably worth more than anything he owns. Finely cut sapphires decorate the pendant, which turns out to be a very stubborn locket. Link wiggles a fingernail into the tight groove, trying to pry it open. It takes some work, but the locket finally relents.

Jammed inside is an old, worn pictograph – not even in color. The woman in the pictograph stares blankly back at Link. He muses how the woman seems a bit familiar, though he can't put his finger on how or why. Fair hair and dark eyes, she sits regally in what looks to be expensive clothing, but Link has to guess that anyone owning such a necklace would have to have some sort of cash.

Hasn't he seen this woman from somewhere before? But where?

His eyes trail to the other side of the locket where the name "Zelda" has been elegantly etched into the metal.

Link groans a little as he sits up. He scratches at the back of his neck and snaps the locket shut.

He doesn't know any Zeldas.

His joints crack as he stretches, yawning, and gets out of bed to finally start the day. Judging by the sun, he's getting a late start… again. Link pockets the necklace, unsure of what else to do with it.

How'd that locket even get in his waka ama in the first place?

Maybe the woman in the pictograph is Zelda?

His family is out, and Miss Tetra is gone. The bungalow feels empty without the bustle of his family. He slips his skimmers on and grabs a mango for his late breakfast. He debates on wearing the white mask, but the orders have gone out. Link slips the mask on over his face and heads out.

Now under quarantine, ships will no longer come to the island at all. The islanders, for the most part, have taken to wearing the masks when out in public. Those that refuse to are promptly alienated out of fear.

As he passes the home next door, he instinctively looks to greet Rose, but his hand falls limply back to his side when he sees that Rose is not out. He stops out front the bungalow. The first of 'Iaunuali is on Po'aha, six days away – wait. Today is Po'alima, right? Link quickly tries to count the days in his head. No, today is definitely Po'alima. With the new year so close, Link thinks that Rose must be out preparing for the new year celebrations and pushes the small matter aside.

On his way to Sturgeon's office, Link runs into Gonzo and Nudge, whose faces are also clad in the sterile white. They give him a warm greeting. "Where you rushing to?" Gonzo asks.

"To Sturgeon's."

"Strugeon's?" Gonzo repeats, an eyebrow cocked in interest. "Aren't you off work until… what's you call it? Lapoo?"

"Lapule," Link corrects. "But I'm just stopping by his office."

"Lapule… That's two days from now, right?" Nudge quiet voice sounds.

"Yeah!"

Gonzo shakes his head. "I don't think I'll ever get it straight. Every other day of the week is basically the same word."

"You were close though," Link laughs.

Nudge leans over and mutters into Gonzo's ear. "I dunno…" the latter mumbles. "If he knew about it, I'm sure she'd have found it by now, yeah?"

Link's brow knits. "I'm sorry?"

Gonzo's booming laugh fills the air, even some of the islanders nearby turn their heads. "Don't worry about it, laddie," says the pirate.

Nudge mumbles something else to Gonzo.

Gonzo nods, turning back to Link. "Listen, lad," he says, apology laced in his voice, "we need to get going and start rounds with Borville."

The blond stiffens. "Have there been more?"

"We don't know yet, but I'm sure there are, yeah?" Gonzo attempts to give Link a meaningful look, but his eyes are empty. The pirate claps the lad on the back, and the pair moves on. Link stares dumbly after the two pirates, a part of him wishing that they'd turn back, keep speaking with him, further delay him.

There was nothing ultimately forcing him to go to Sturgeon's office after all. He could skip the whole ordeal…

Somebody slams into him, and Link stumbles a few steps away. Link scowls a little when he comes face to face with the leader of the Bombers, Jim. The memories of the two as children are still fresh in Link's mind. Never changing, Jim smirks at Link, causing the blood to bubble in Link's veins. The Bomber turns and continues on in the direction of the market.

Farore, is he going to do nothing? What would Tetra say?

Actually… what _would_ Tetra say?

His hatred simmering, Link walks on, jamming his hands into his pockets and silently laughs to himself. He's sure that the captain would not hesitate to call him a bilge rat for being so stupid. He muses that if he was one of the sea rats aboard her ship, she'd have probably made him kiss the gunner's daughter more than a few times.

He's being stupid.

All this fuss, and for what? She might not even be there.

Link kicks at the path, knocking up puffs of dust.

Before he knows it, he's standing outside the office. He hesitates, swinging from foot to foot about entering. Tetra's voice insults his cowardice from the back of his mind. He sighs, and tries to clear his head some before he opens the door.

Sturgeon is hunched over, inspecting a rat, in one of the back rooms. The rodent's innards are in full display. And just Link's luck, Ilia stands ready at Sturgeon's side. She looks up as Link enters and gives him a cordial greeting that makes him think he's been crazy for avoiding her.

"Link, where you been, lad?" Sturgeon asks. "I know there's not much work for you to do lately, but…"

"You're always welcome here," Ilia says.

He must be crazy.

"Well, Link, what brings you by?" asks Sturgeon.

He scratches his neck, realizing that he really didn't have any business here. Not clever enough to come up with something on the spot, he shrugs and offers the truth: nothing.

Sturgeon gets up from his stool and crosses the room. "No matter, you have excellent timing," he says. He leans over a table where papers have been strewn all across. Notes scribbled down in Shad's tight, careful handwriting. "I think I might have a job for you. Borville thinks he may have found a way to combat the fever, but it requires some outside help."

Link's eyes dart from Sturgeon to Ilia, who offers nothing.

Link says, "Aren't we quarantined?"

"Yes, and that's why you don't need to make any noise about it," the doctor says. Sturgeon pushes his spectacles up further on his nose. "Best not to stir anything up."

"What do you mean?"

"You haven't seen? Some of the islanders have been trying to leave. I even saw Mesa trying to pack his things."

"They won't get far."

"Not at all."

"So what is it that I need to get?"

"Plants from the Forest Haven."

Again, Link looks to Ilia who has offered nothing to the conversation. Instead, she's taking a closer look at the rat Sturgeon was dissecting when Link arrived.

"I'll get you a list," Sturgeon says.

Link nods, head swimming.

"Will your boat be able to get you there?" Sturgeon muses, but Link isn't paying the man much attention. In fact, the rest of the conversation passes straight through Link's ears for the most part. He catches enough key words here and there to piece together what's being said.

That is, until Ilia says, "Doctor, I think I'm going to get some lunch." Sturgeon nods, telling her to go, and he goes back to dissecting the rat. Rubber gloves snap as she pulls them off and tosses them into the rubbish bin. "Link, care to join me?" she asks as she washes off her hands in a nearby sink.

Link glances at Sturgeon, feeling his nerves prickle. "Go ahead, lad. I'll give you all the details with Borville later."

The mango is still in his hand when the pair sits down on the beach, masks slung around their necks. Ilia quietly eats her sandwich as Link pulls a small switchblade knife from his pocket. He can feel the girl watching him as he digs at the mango's skin with the knife. "You don't eat the skin?" she asks as one long strip of the fruit flies off from his knife.

"I don't, no."

"What's wrong?"

Link pauses. What _is_ wrong? He glances at Ilia, a heavy pounding of blood flows through his veins.

He shrugs and goes back to peeling the mango.

Ilia stutters some trying to find the words to say, but failing that, she shuts her mouth tight, eyes on her lunch.

She jumps a little when Link speaks again, "What do you think will happen to the islanders that leave?"

"I don't know."

"Maybe they'll just come back," Link mumbles.

Ilia shakes her head, and Link's brow knits. It's not that simple. Ilia explains the quarantine won't allow them back. "We can't risk introducing anything new to the island unnecessarily that might make this epidemic worse."

"Ep-ee…?"

"Epidemic," Ilia says again.

"Then why am I being asked to leave?"

"Because what you're doing is necessary."

Link frowns. His eyes are locked onto the bright yellow-orange of the fruit in his hand. He flips the knife closed and pockets it. His fingers brush warm metal in his pocket, and Link remembers the necklace he'd found.

He pulls the locket out and presents it to Ilia. "That's very pretty," she says, unsure of what else to say as she takes it from him. She turns it over in one hand.

"This isn't yours?"

Her eyes dart to his in surprise, and then they drift down back to the locket. "No… why?" Her voice is softer than usual.

He responds plainly, "I found it in my boat."

Ilia passes the locket back to him. The pictograph floats back into his mind, and he asks Ilia to hold his mango while he pries the locket back open to take another look at the woman inside.

The locket shuts back closed with a soft click, and the gears start turning in Link's mind.

* * *

Sorry it's a bit short today. Things are starting to pick up on my end work wise and I've gotten back to working on writing some other projects, so it might take me longer to edit chapters. I'm thinking maybe this will start updating every other week?

We'll see, we'll see.

I know summer is coming to a close for a lot of you, so I hope you all get to have some last minute fun. Personally, the fall is my favorite time of the year, so I cannot wait for September (Oktoberfest! So excited!), and then October with Halloween... Ugh. And Christmas. I love December, but I hate shopping.

My family is likely just going to exchange booze again this year. Maybe cigars too.

Drop a word, any suggestions/criticisms you have, I'd love to hear!

:3


	6. The Merchant's Daughter

Between the Devil and the Deep Sea

6.0

The Merchant's Daughter

Link doesn't find Tetra until he arrives home for dinner. He'd spent the afternoon after lunch with Ilia with Orca discussing how to route his small vessel to the Forest Haven and back. The trip, long for a waka ama, won't be impossible, but Link must take care to avoid any mistakes. Link had suggested using Orca's larger fishing boat for the trip, but Orca pointed out that the trip must be done with as little notice as possible, and Link agreed.

After leaving Orca's though, Link's come to a decision with Tetra.

The captain is cold to him as they eat dinner with Kūkū and Aryll. Aryll is as enthusiastic as ever to talk to the pirate captain, and their grandmother nods along to the conversation, occasionally adding her input. Miss Tetra and Link don't speak to one another as they do the dishes together after the meal. They work seamlessly as Link scrubs and Tetra rinses and dries.

Butterflies well in Link's stomach, and he glances over at Tetra every chance he thinks he has when she won't notice. His mouth is dry.

She dries her hands and tosses the towel back where she grabbed it before Link finally finds himself. "Tetra," he croaks. Suds cling to his fingers. "I need to talk to you."

The captain turns her head, bangs falling into her bored eyes. "You've had plenty of time to do that over dinner."

"Alone."

"We're alone now."

She's messing with him. Irritation bites at Link's skin.

"Tetra," Link pleads.

She shrugs. "The usual" is all she says before leaving him alone in the kitchen. He doesn't move until he hears the door shut, and she's gone from the bungalow.

So Link waits. The sounds of slumber drift through the bungalow and the island as he leaves the bungalow. He glances at Rose's house, dark inside. He thinks how he hasn't seen her all day, which is a bit unusual.

The further down from the cliffs he goes, the more tightly and higher from the ground the homes are placed together. Only occasionally does light pool out from cracks in window coverings. Most of the island is asleep. He passes the market where empty stalls sit lonely in the night. Wind whips at the fabric overhangs of many of the stalls. At one point he sees figure moving in the dark, and the distinct sounds of Jim's voice fill his ears. The Bombers gang are out and about in the dead of night as well, and Link takes a more roundabout path to avoid confrontation with the gang. He winds down the usual road to the beach, leaving behind the more populated, central area of the island.

Link glances back at the homes that dot the island in the dark, and the fleeting thought of Ordon comes to mind. He'd have to ask Ilia. She said it was within a forest, and Link wonders how large it must be to hidden away in trees. He glances up at the island's cliffs where trees poke at the skyline.

He huddles in the hull of the Red Lion like a child in the womb. The sea breeze whips at his shaggy hair, and the salty scent of the water fills his nostrils. There's something so comforting about the sea, the way it can envelop him like a thick cloak. The ever pulsing of the waves makes it feel as though it's just as alive as he is. Though Link knows that there is a darker side to the ocean, and if he leaves the island, he prays to the goddesses that he won't have to face it. Prays that he won't have to face it alone.

Eventually, she comes. This time he is not kept waiting in vain.

He stretches out in the boat, and Tetra slips in next to him. The bare skin of her arm sticks strangely to his own. She doesn't speak, merely waits for him.

"I think I have a way for you to get off the island," Link mutters.

Tetra's head lolls over to look at him. "What're you talking about?"

A lump builds in his throat, and he tries to push it down, but it remains stubbornly there. He licks his lips, focusing on the roaring waves, calling him back out to sea. "They want me to leave the island," he whispers.

It's soft at first. Light. It builds in her chest. Tetra tries to suppress her giggles before they start, but just as quickly, she lets them go. "You can't come back," she reminds him.

Link shushes her. "Not so loud," he groans.

He waits until she quiets again before continuing. "I'm going to the Forest Haven to hopefully find whatever it is that Borville needs to make a cure."

"This isn't a guarantee though, right?" she asks, and when he doesn't respond, she elaborates. "I mean like… I mean that there's no guarantee that whatever he comes up with will actually stop this whole thing."

"No," Link breathes.

Neither says anything for a while, mulling over the infinite possibilities being presented to them.

Tetra says, "So you'll take me to the Forest Haven?"

"There are a bunch of smaller islands north of the Forest Haven, that if we can make the stretch there, I could get to Rito Island."

"What if they know we've come from Outset?"

"I don't know, how would they know?" Link snaps, irritation nipping at his heels. "Just say you're from Windfall or something."

Tetra points out to him with a sigh, "Remember? I told you this before. They don't have this kind of boat up north… unless we're taking someone else's."

"I asked Orca about maybe taking his, but people would probably notice that it's gone. There are many waka amas though. One missing isn't that big of a deal."

"Let's not forget supplies too," she says, shooting down his idea even further. "There's no way we'd have enough supplies to go from here to Rito."

"Like I said, there are other islands," he mumbles, but he knows his case has been shut, and kicked a few times by Tetra, at this point.

Tetra hums. "And what about the rest of my crew?" she asks. "I leave them behind?"

"I can't fit all of you on a waka ama."

He digs into his pocket. "That reminds me," he mumbles. He pulls out the necklace he'd found in the boat, seemingly ages ago. "I asked Ilia if this was hers, but she said no." The locket swings on its chain freely as Link holds it above him and Tetra.

"Who?"

"Ilia."

Tetra snorts. "No, who is she?"

"Dr. Borville's assistant." Link pauses. Tetra makes no noise. "The blonde?" Nothing. "Green eyes?"

Tetra smacks him. "I _know_ who you're talking about. That girl you've been avoiding."

Link grumbles to himself, "Why didn't you just _say_ so…?" as he pulls the locket away, but like a viper, Tetra's hand lashes out and holds fast onto the jewelry.

"Where did you find this?"

"Right here," he breathes, not daring to look away from their hands fisted around the fine metal.

Tetra mumbles something. Link barely catches it, but he has to ask her to repeat. "It's mine," says the captain.

"Is Zelda your mother?" he asks, feeling himself start to babble. "That's who that woman is, right? You said that was your mother."

"No." The chain slips from his fingers, and his breath catches in a lump in his throat. "_I'm_ Zelda."

Link waits. The pumping in his veins starts to pick up.

"Then-"

She cuts him off. "That is my mother though."

Suddenly the woman next to him is a stranger. Totally foreign. An outsider. If she's not Tetra, who is she? What all is true about her, and what all is just lies? How much does Link _really_ know about this girl next to him? The questions begin to buzz in his head, but his mouth won't work.

The blonde captain bolts up. Her feet meet the incoming waves, sinking into the wet sand. She slips the locket back on, intent on leaving the beach. Before she can get too far, Link finds himself, and he calls out to her in the dark, "What's your name?"

"Zelda Nohansen."

Link doesn't go after her. Instead, he continues to lay under the canopy of stars in the inky night. He stares up at the sky, trying to pick out any constellations that Aryll has shown him, but to him the stars are nothing more than grains of salt splattered across black velvet. The velvet hangs over him like a cloak, wrapping him up safely, telling him that all will be fine. It will still be there in the morning, when he must leave. The rolling ocean waves fill his ears with white noise.

He _should_ be worried for his little sister, his grandmother, himself, but all Link can think about is who the pirate captain really is. The name Nohansen sounds familiar, but Link can't quite place where he's heard it before, or where it comes from.

The waves carry him off to sleep.

He wakes sometime around high noon, the Red Lion rocking with the waves. The tide has rolled into the beach, eating up the sand eagerly. Link sits up in the boat, feeling the stiffness in his back break apart bit by bit. He scratches his head. His hair and face feel a little greasy, so he swings himself out of the waka ama, waves licking at his knees and soaking his shorts and shoes. He strips his shirt off and sets it in the hull of his boat. How'd he sleep in so late? He shakes the thought free and dunks his head into the salty waves.

His first breath when he rips his head from the ocean is revitalizing. It shakes in his lungs as it swoops in. Eyes closed, he spends a few peaceful seconds breathing in that island and ocean air.

He looks about the beach around him, but it's mostly empty. There's a group of boys off in the distance by the path off the beach, and when Link squints, he recognizes one of them. The Killer Bees, a small gang that attempted to emulate the Bombers. He sighs to himself as he grabs his shirt to wipe his face before throwing it back on. First Jim, and now these boys. His skimmers squish with each step as he nears the boys.

They're all around Aryll's age, maybe a couple years her junior if that, but not older. Each of their fathers are traveling merchants from the island, but trade almost exclusively with Windfall, the Republic's main island, and Dragon Roost, a northeastern island that rivals the sizes of both Windfall and Outset.

Link knows them each well enough. The boy he recognized first is the leader of the group, Ivan. They have a bad habit of skipping out on their lessons, and he can recall one incident after Ivan returned from a trip to Windfall when Aryll was about six. The boy and Aryll got into an argument about something or other, and in revenge, the boy clipped off one of Aryll's braids. She's kept her hair in short pigtails ever since.

His steps falter.

He can remember, too, the cruel tricks played on him by the Bombers gang members when they were younger.

Ivan and the other boys swoop over to Link. He tries to ignore their heckling and sidestep them, but they're relentless about it. He sighs, rubbing water from his that's slid down from his moppy hair. "Out of my way," he groans, pushing past the boys, but they swarm him again in no time.

"Hey Link!"

"Not now, Ivan. I've got things to do."

"Jim says you're getting cushy with the outsiders. That nurse or whatever."

Link stops short, because the boys have blocked his way off the beach. "Move aside."

"You're not going to respond?" one of the other boys asks.

Parroting, Link says again, "Move aside. I've got things to do."

"Hey come on, Link."

"Leave me be," Link sighs, and he pushes one boy out of his way when the refuse to budge.

"Link, don't you need a mask?"

"Don't you all?" he retorts.

Link wanders about the center of the island, mulling over his upcoming journey and Tetra… or Zelda. Or should he still call her Tetra? Or Zelda? The dark spots on his shirt and shorts begin to recede and disappear. Overwhelmed with his thoughts, he idly kicks about a small rock, not noticing the other islanders. Noses and mouths covered by sterile white slips, their eyes dart to him. They shuffle and jog out of his way, creating a bubble of space around him. He passes Sue-Belle's home, who starts to greet him, but then quickly changes her mind and goes back to her chores, though she keeps one eye on the blond. Link looks up, noticing Sue-Belle. He waves at her, but her eyes go wide. Her head darts back down and she scrubs the laundry she's washing even harder.

Maybe he should just go home.

Link looks about, the rock forgotten, seeing wives in tight circles whispering to themselves, and other like Sue-Belle purposely ignoring him.

He digs his hands in his pockets and decides to just head over to Sturgeon's office. Ilia will most likely be there.

And she is.

He sinks onto a stool, wrapping the mask around his face that Ilia gives him. She's scribbling notes down with Shad in the back room again. Sturgeon and Borville are nowhere to be found, out on rounds together according to Shad.

"Sorry you've just missed the doctor," Shad says to him, readjusting his glasses.

Link shrugs. "It's fine," says Link, and he starts to spin in circles on the stool. The room flies by him in a dizzy mess of colors. Ilia slams her pen down, and her hand meets his shoulder, halting him.

"Link, what's wrong?"

"I'm being either ignored or heckled by the other islanders."

"Well, you weren't wearing a mask, Link," Shad points out.

Link gives him a bored look.

Ilia sniffs, and she turns back to her notes. "Great Fish Isle has been quarantined too," she tells him.

"Wh-what?" Link sputters. "I thought it was just us!"

"It seems that Outset isn't the only place this fever is at. We were just informed today."

Shad pipes up, "It could be a totally separate case, or it could be that islanders that have left Outset took it over there." The glasses get pushed up again. "Either way it's likely causing a panic on the other islands, but there hasn't been any other news from Windfall."

"What's going to happen then?"

"Likely that Windfall will disallow travel outside of necessary trade shipments on the other islands until the fever is no longer a threat," Shad says.

"Just wear the mask, Link," Ilia says. "Okay? Until you have to go."

He slumps a little on the stool, almost like a scolded child.

The three lapse into silence.

Link eventually speaks. "Hey, I came here to ask you all something. You're from outside… do you know the name Nohansen?"

"Nohansen?" Shad exclaims.

Ilia looks confused.

"You know it?" Link asks.

Shad looks between Ilia and Link. "I'm surprised you haven't…

"Nohansen is the family name of one of Hyrule's wealthiest merchants. He imports a number of goods from Windfall into Lanayru Province in Hyrule. He's got contracts elsewhere too," Shad muses. He quickly shakes himself, turning back to Link. "That's who you're thinking of though, right?"

Link blinks. "Yeah… I think so."

* * *

Sorry about the late update. Since the last one, my grandmother has been in and out of the hospital a few times. I live with her, so I've been the one to keep an eye on her. I just finally got the time today to sit down on this one and finish up the changes I'd started on. That said, I won't be updating this Friday, but I don't see why not next Friday.

Thanks for the comments, critiques and PMs so far. It's nice to hear something, and I try to reply to everyone, but I'm sorry if I didn't!

Till next week!

c:


	7. The Deadlight

Between the Devil and the Deep Sea

7.0

The Deadlight

"What!" Aryll hollers, her grip tightening on the Hyoi pear. Link scratches the back of his neck absently. Normally, he'd be just as furious, but his mind was hundreds of miles away from what was happening on the island. "That's ridiculous!" the young girl spits, but the vendor's flat look doesn't falter. "You just charged her," she points at another island scurrying away so as not to get involved, "ten, and now you're asking for thirty?" She rounds on her absentminded brother. "LINK."

"Hmmm?" he hums, coming back to the island. His eyes drift to the Hyoi pear in Aryll's hand. "Don't squeeze it death," he mumbles and takes the fruit from her hand.

"He's asking for thirty!"

"We can go without pears," sighs Link, and he lightly tosses the fruit back in its bin. The vendor's mouth thins, and Link leads his little sister away.

"You're not mad?" asks Aryll, disarmed by Link's tone. "Link?"

Link doesn't respond as, once again, his mind is adrift on the sea. The pirate captain and her real identity plagues him, and the impending trip looms over him. The market is in the center of the island, higher up from the beaches. If he looks hard enough, Link is sure he could find Orca and Sturgeon's bungalow home among all the others, but his eyes drift off to the ocean lapping lazily at the beach. The sand is obscured by the islander's homes and the trees that line the beach. His eyes follow the boats that bob with the waves off shore.

His gut churns a little. Link can even feel the gentle lifting and falling of the waves as if he was on one of those boats.

What if a storm rolls in while he's at sea? He's not sure the Red Lion could handle it.

"Link," Aryll says again, and she tugs on his shirt sleeve. "What's wrong?"

Link swallows the lump in his throat, and he pulls his eyes away from the water. "It's nothing. I've just had some things on my mind," he tells his sister. "Don't worry about it, let's just finish Kūkū's shopping."

They could send someone else. Why should he be the one to leave?

Aryll chatters in his ear.

For Aryll, he decides. For Kūkū. Nayru knows, he won't know what to do without his family, but could he really leave the island? His head swims at all the possibilities, thinking of storms brewing on the horizon, waiting to eat him up. What if he doesn't make it back? What happens to Outset? To Great Fish?

"Aryll?" he calls softly, placing a hand on her shoulder. Her chattering immediately ceases. "Will you finish up the shopping?" She blinks. "I just… I have to think."

She doesn't stop him or try to call him back. Aryll just lets Link go. His hand slides off from her shoulder.

Link passes Orca and Sturgeon's bungalow, and he considers stopping, but only for a moment. When he can see his usual path to the beach in sight, he sprints for the sand. Some children play on the shoreline, splashing at the pale, incoming waves and laughing amongst themselves. Their laughter settles a bit when Link flies by, kicking up the dry, white sand and creating craters where his feet dig into the hot grains. When he finally reaches the Red Lion, it jerks slightly with each push the waves give. High tide is coming in. Link flies into the water without a care, the waves soaking his clothes and skimmers. He pulls out from the main hull the sail and quickly works to attach it to the main hull's mast. Careful to avoid the incoming high tide waves, Link brings the heavy canvas across to the secondary, smaller hull and secures it.

He untethers the boat and pushes it from shore, fighting against the waves. Once his feet struggle to make contact with the sea floor, Link climbs into the main hull and rips the mask from his face. He lets it hang around his neck. Thankful for the day's strong winds, he brings out an oar from the hull and begins to further push the waka ama out from shore until the sail is ready to catch the wind.

Once the sail is raised, he lets the winds carry him out on the sea. The Red Lion glides through the bright teal waters of the ocean, and every now and then, Link can catch sight of the creatures swimming through the crystal sea.

Oh goddesses, what if there are sharks between Outset and the Forest Haven?

He looks over to Outset Island. It sits large and formidable in the sea. His eyes scan the western cliffs until he thinks he sees his home within the vegetation and all the other bungalows. Then they drift down, follow the beaches and stop where he knows rocks and coral lie in wait offshore, the same area that destroyed the pirates' ship in the storm.

As long as none of the islanders think the outsiders brought the fever…

He tries not to think about that.

Tries not to think about how Aryll and the others might be treated when he leaves.

If he leaves.

No. That's not right.

A sudden dip in the waves jerks him from his thoughts. He's heading too far out from the island now, and he tries to steer the boat back towards the island so he doesn't drift too far out to sea with no clear way back. The Red Lion rides out the waves, and Link tries to clear his head from his muddled thoughts about Outset, the fever, the pirate captain… even Ilia.

The storm that brought the pirates to the island never actually left, Link realizes.

Far off on the horizon, Link can see the towering formation of Needle Rock Isle that lies northwest of Outset. He turns his head east, knowing that his true destination is well away behind him. Link doesn't particularly like the feeling of running.

As the wind changes, he steers the waka ama to take him back to shore. The sun, which was at high noon when he left, has sunk considerably to the west. Kūkū will be wondering where he is again, and a little pang of guilt strikes him. He's been so flaky with his family as of late…

About a league away, just on the field of Link's vision, he sees something. He stands, bracing himself against the mast to try and get a clear view of the object on the water. The waka ama is heading straight for it. Link squints to try and get a look at it, but the object is too dark in the dimming light of the day to make out any details, and Link starts to wish he'd had Aryll's telescope.

That's one thing he'll definitely take with him on the coming journey.

The object is getting closer… much too fast. There's no way that his waka ama could sail at this rate. Link hunkers back down in the main hull, drawing out his oar, and starts working to steer the outrigger away. What's coming at him must be another boat.

The ship is on him in no time it feels. It sails on his right, and he's amazed to see that it's steam powered. Link lets the oar rest on his thighs as he stares, mouth agape, at the ship. Canons line the deck, each one seemingly directed straight at him. A woman stands on deck, ponytail whipping in the wind, and he's close enough to see her glaring at him. From her hip, she draws a saber and points it at him. A warning.

Once he reaches the shores of Outset again, Link finally shakes the numbness he's had since his encounter with the steam ship. He's a little surprised to see the pirate captain waiting for him on the beach. Seeing her determined expression, helps rid the numbness.

She wades into the water to help him drag the Red Lion onto shore, low tide now settling in. They anchor the boat on the shore together, and only after they finish does she speak. "Have you been out sailing this whole time?" she asks as she helps Link take down the sail.

"I'm not sure what to call you."

She pauses. "What?"

"I don't know if you're Tetra or… or Zelda. Or what."

Her lips purse into a thin line.

"I don't know who you are."

"Then," she says softly, "I'll go with you."

"Sorry?"

"I'll go with you," she repeats, this time with more conviction. "To- to the Forest Haven, I mean," corrects the captain. "And I'll come back, if that's what you want."

The seagulls caw.

"Are you afraid?" he whispers.

"No."

They meet each other, foot prints sinking into the sand, and fold the sail up. After a few folds, the captain lets go, and Link finishes it before tucking it away into the outrigger's main hull.

They stand awkwardly facing each other, but the captain refusing to look at him. Finally she says, turning and slipping her mask back on, "Come on. Your grandmother's been waiting for you."

"How'd you know I'd be here?" bursts Link.

The captain stops. "Aryll said you just ran off. I figured you'd go to your boat."

He doesn't follow her when starts walking again. How is it that she can know him better than he knows her?

Link only starts after her when the captain stops and calls him. He jogs to meet her.

"I'll call you Zelda."

She doesn't respond.

"There are ships circling the island, I think," Link tells her, but still, the captain says nothing. "I saw one when I was on my way back. It was a steamship."

"Flag?"

"None."

"I wonder if the doctors knew about this."

"Should they?"

"Speak to Sturgeon first," the captain says. "_Not_ Ilia."

Link stops. "What's your problem?"

"Excuse me?" she spits, whipping round on him.

But she heard him. Hands fisting at his sides, he refuses to yield to the captain.

* * *

I came home from work yesterday, intent on posting this, only to find out that the power had gone out. So whooo, that was a fun surprise. Obviously, I have it back now, as well as AC, thankfully. I don't think we've had a storm like that here in a long while, but today's all sunshine.

I'm hoping to start seeing a little snow next month. I am so sick of summer and the heat.

Til next week!

D;


	8. The Caged Birds

Between the Devil and the Deep Sea

8.0

The Caged Birds

They argue all the way back home, and though Kūkū tries to smooth things over during dinner, the tension remains high. Aryll quietly eats her food, head down, but occasionally her eyes dart up at Link and the captain, both still fuming.

When the two finish their dinners, Link retires to his bed for the night, seeking comfort in his blankets and the sound of the sea smacking the island outside. He cracks his window to let in the crosswinds. The captain, however, storms out of the bungalow. When Link peers through his window, he can see her lithe figure in the dark stomp down the road. "Aloha 'oe," he whispers to her retreating form. She'll have a drink or two… or more and play a few rounds of cards with her crew at the inn. The captain has no intention of returning, for the night at the very least.

Kūkū sighs as she gathers up the dishes with Aryll.

"Kūkū?" Aryll calls.

Her grandmother gives a soft smile, taking the plates from Aryll's hands. The wrinkles around her eyes deepen. "Don't worry about it," she tells Aryll.

"That's what Link said."

"They're just stubborn is all," Kūkū says. "Reminds me of your mother."

"Makuahine… was she pretty?"

"Just like you."

Aryll dries the plates her grandmother hands her. "I don't remember Makuakane."

Kūkū laughs to herself. Her frail form shakes. "He was very much like your brother," she says. "Always looking forward to the next adventure."

"Is it bad?" Aryll asks quietly. "That I can't remember?"

"Time wreaks havoc on memory," Kūkū says. "I'm sure if he was willing to talk about it, Link would tell you the same."

Link curls up a little more in his blankets, cocooning himself in the fabric. His family's voice drift through the bungalow. He tries not to think about it, but when he finally drifts into sleep, he's plagued by dreams. Several times throughout the night, he awakes in the dark, frightened out of the dream world. He jerks awake, just before dawn. Licking his lips, his throat is dry. He wanders out of bed in search of water before slipping out.

Of course, his feet carry him back to his waka ama. To the sea. What would he ever do without the sea?

He swings one leg into the main hull. "HEY!" He coughs, salt water stinging his nostrils, as he tries to reorient himself. His hand grapple at the sand as the ocean washes over him. She'd flipped him right out of the hull. Link wipes the water from his eyes and grabs the side of the Red Lion to pull himself up. "Din! What is wrong you?" she snaps, clutching her side.

"What're you doing in my boat?" he deadpans.

"I needed a place to sleep. You know, _away_ from everyone."

Link rolls his eyes.

He brings his leg back into the hull, this time careful not to step on the pirate captain. "Move over, will ya?"

"_What_? No!"

"It's my boat," he grumbles. "Move."

She stuffs herself to one side to let Link lie down in the hull.

"What're you doing here?" she asks.

"It's my boat."

"And?"

Link huffs, a rush of air flying out from his lungs. "I was having trouble sleeping."

The captain hums next to him. He can feel the vibration of the sound, making his skin tingle.

He decides to ask her, her name sounding so foreign when he says it, "Zelda, do you remember much about your mother…? Like," and he waves a hand, "her voice?"

"I think her hair was the same color as mine, but I can't be sure. I don't remember her voice much at all. She spoke bluntly, but proper, you know?" the captain says. "Why?"

"My sister was asking Kūkū about our parents last night," says Link. He folds his hands on his stomach. "I guess she can't remember much at all about them."

"Memories are finicky things, Link," says the captain, the edge having completely dissolved from her voice now. "Think of it like a slate… and you draw a picture on that slate. Then you erase it. Can you remember that drawing exactly?"

"Well… maybe not exactly," Link mumbles.

"Right," chirps the girl. "You can draw that picture again, but it won't be exactly the same. There'll be some details that are going to be changed." The captain rolls a little onto her side, her backside curling against the hull. Link turns to face her. "It's faulty. If you erase that second picture, and draw it again, it'll differ even more from the first one."

"How'd you become a pirate captain?"

"Do you trust my memory?" she asks slyly, a smile slinking its way onto her lips.

He opens his mouth, a croak of a sound on the very edge of his throat. He swallows again. "I trust _you_."

This surprises her. The smile slips off, her eyes widen just slightly. "Even after you say that I'm not who you think I am?"

"We're still friends, right?"

She laughs a little. "I guess." The laughter that had died in her throat bubbles up again. "I didn't realize we were to begin with."

"That's not nice, Zelda."

"You can't call me Zelda. Not around other people."

"You're still Zelda."

She smacks him lightly before withdrawing her arm. Zelda curls into herself, tongue sliding out over her lips as she studies the grain of the hull's wood. "I beat the previous captain," she says. "My mother wanted me to be able to defend myself, so she had me learn how to fight. My father said it was a bit brutish, but let her do as she pleased."

"Is he dead? The captain, I mean."

"Yeah, I killed him," she says. "Then I took control of the ship.

"I was on a merchant ship heading from the mainland to Windfall when they attacked, wanting the goods on board. We were carrying textiles from Lanayru to trade for spices. You remember Niko?"

His face flattened, eyes narrowing and mouth straightening. "Really, Zelda?"

She laughs again. "He was on the merchant ship with me."

Zelda clucks her tongue.

Link turns onto his side, facing her. "Why'd you do it though?"

"I hated my life on the mainland," she says. "It's suffocating, that feeling of being trapped. My father never understood like my mother did. He wanted to see me marry some idiot and be a complacent housewife. Would you like that life?

"I think maybe he was afraid he'd lose me like he lost my mother."

"Are you trapped here?"

"What do you think?" she bites.

"I'll take you away from here," Link whispers, closing his eyes for sleep.

When they open again, Zelda is gone. He wanders aimlessly, hands stuffed into his pockets and his mind a thousand leagues under the sea. He swims through that haze, thinking about his conversation with the pirate captain.

Is he trapped here? Has he always been trapped here?

The steamship he encountered the day before surfaces on the horizon of his mind. It strikes Link that he needs to find Aryll. He needs her telescope. Before he goes to the doctors, he'll go to Aryll, yes. This plan of action firmly in the mind, he bolts for home.

Their grandmother is out, and Zelda is nowhere in sight. Link flies into the kitchen to find Aryll prepping for dinner. "Where have you been?" she frets wringing her hands on her apron. "Have you even eaten at all today?"

"Have you seen Z-Tetra?" he stumbles.

Aryll's brow furrows at his slip, but not knowing what to make of the strange sound, doesn't bring it up. "No," she says slowly. "She hasn't been home since last night? What were you two fighting about now?"

"I don't have time for an interrogation, Aryll," Link snaps. "I really need to borrow your telescope. Please?"

She hesitates for a moment, and each agonizing moment digs a little more at the underside of Link's skin. The feeling of urgency has hit him and won't let up until he can see that blue blue blue sea for himself.

"Aryll."

"It's in my room." He tears through the house to her room to retrieve the telescope. As he's rushing back out the door, he hears Aryll calling to him, "Be careful with that! Makuakane gave that to me!"

The run to Aryll's favorite lookout is familiar. Habitually, Link turns to wave at his neighbor Rose, who should be out with her pigs, but once again, Link sees that she's not out and about. Not stopping to find out why or to even question it, he just runs as fast as his legs can carry him.

Once he gets himself situated at the top of the lookout, the ocean swimming below him, he brings the telescope up to his eye and peers through the glass lenses and tunnel. It takes a while for him to search the crystal waves, but he spots it. Another ship off the island coast heading east. It's not the same one that he encountered though, but soon enough, he finds a second a few leagues east of the first.

He searches again for that first ship, then his eye drifts west until he finds a third ship in the line. This one he knows. The blood in his veins runs cold, and he knows it's not just the cool winds of Kekemapa.

Kekemapa… Today is Po'akahi. Three more days until the first of 'Iaunuali. It seems strange that it's been only three months since this whirlwind began with the hurricane that hit Outset. To the day, now that he thinks about it. It was the twenty-ninth of Kepakemapa when that storm ravaged the island.

Link sighs.

He collapses the telescope as he stares out on the waves. Silently, he prays to his patron Farore that he will live to at least Pepeluali. One month, he asks for. At least a month.

He turns to leave the lookout, intent on doing the one thing that Zelda asked him not to – see Ilia.

* * *

Heeey!

I'm really excited. I have a job interview next week, and I have a few other prospects as well. I should go shopping for a suit... ugh, as exciting as this is, I still kind of don't want to be an adult. It's a bit scary.

D:


	9. The Grave Keepers

Between the Devil and the Deep Sea

9.0

The Grave Keepers

Dampé, with the help of Gonzo, loads the last body onto the boat. A lithe thing, maybe female or a child, he does not know. The bodies are all wrapped in cloth, tied up with twine, ready to be carted out to sea for disposal like rotten meat. Despite the cool winter winds drifting through the island, sweat pools at the back of his neck and on his forehead. He swipes a hand at his forehead to catch the perspiration before it rolls down to his eyes and turns to the pirate. "Thanks, mate," he says, stretching out a hand.

Gonzo, stepping back, holds both his hands up. "No offense, yeah?"

"Ah, right," the gravedigger chuckles. "I understand."

Gonzo peers out on the horizon. "I'll bet you we'll have another half a dozen more by the morrow," he says.

The gravedigger hums to himself, turning to stare out at the horizon as well. It's kind of ironic now to call him a gravedigger when he has no more room to dig graves. His hands have calloused significantly, his back aches when he wakes, but the work is never ending it seems. Dampé tries to think back when he last had a day off, but cannot think of when that was. He sees now how the islanders flit about aimlessly. Cut off from the rest of the world, they are wasting away on the island. They meet in groups, faces covered and sometimes not, to gossip and clean. Sometimes they sit around and just drink. The boats that leave the island go to fish, or else they don't come back. He has to double check each morning what day it is, because the days have gotten so long.

Dampé steps carefully into the boat. It rocks dangerously, but he's used to it. He settles in, and he takes hold of the oars. The pirate tosses Dampé the rope that tethered him to the island, and Dampé begins to row slowly out to sea.

"Gonzo!" The pirate turns away from the sea, spotting Miss Tetra coming down to the docks, running towards them at top speed. "Stop him!" she cries as her feet meet the docks' wooden planks.

"OI! Dampé!"

The gravedigger stops rowing. He waits expectantly as the captain skitters to a stop at the end of the docks. She huffs for air, chest heaving. "Have you seen ships?" she asks in between breaths.

"I see lots of ships."

"No- no! I mean…" Miss Tetra sighs heavily, and straightens up. Still panting slightly, she says, "Have you seen anything circling the island?" with a hand waving circles in the air to emphasize her point.

Dampé scratches at his chin. "Hm," he hums. "I have seen similar ships off the coast, but I can't say they've been circling the island."

"Would you keep an eye out?" she asks him. "Let Gonzo know."

He shrugs, gripping the oars again. The oars slip into the water, and he starts to push the boat away. "Sure, why not?" he calls. "I'll let you know."

Gonzo looks to Tetra. "There are ships circling the island?" he asks her.

"Link seems to think so," she says, still with her back to him. "He says he came across a steamship."

"To keep us contained, yeah?"

"What other reason could there be?"

He shifts from foot to foot and crosses his arms. "Anything else I should know?" he asks her. She glances back at him briefly, and his eyebrows raise.

"I'm going to leave with him," she admits. She rounds on him. "You can't tell anybody, got it?"

"Yeah?" he half laughs. "Not even the crew?" Gonzo's lumbering form steps up next to her as she straightens back to look out on the sea. His shadow eats hers. "So that's why you're concerned," he mumbles to himself when she doesn't answer.

His heavy paw rests on her shoulder. "Miss Tetra, what're you about to do?"

"We'll come back," she says with conviction, turning to him. Her eyes are wide, brow straight. "I won't leave you."

Though she can't see it through the mask, he smiles at her. His eyes crinkle, and underneath the fabric, his cheeks grow rounder. He pats her shoulder, telling her not to worry.

Gonzo leaves his captain on the docks to begin his day of rounds with the two doctors. Today he is running rounds with Nudge. The two wait just inside the office's entrance for the doctors. "Mako's been trying to learn signing with Zuko," says Nudge, leaning on the upright, collapsed stretcher they'll be taking with them.

Gonzo laughs. "Is he?" He sighs, "Good for him."

Nudge says, "I can barely get a handle on the island talk."

The two pirates chuckle lowly until Shad appears with the doctors in tow. "Ready?" asks Shad, pushing his spectacles up his nose. The pirates nod, and Gonzo shows the way out.

Their first patient of the day is an older gentleman. The man's face has swollen, and he complains almost the entire visit about the pain in his back. His wife hovers uncomfortably in the doorway as she observes the doctors and the assistant work. Occasionally, she casts a glance at the pirates standing guard outside the room. Eventually, she starts to speak in that rhythmic chatter of the island to the man, and his complaints start to cease. Shad dutifully scribbles down notes for the doctors, and soon enough, they wrap the examination.

The next is a young girl whose mother Gonzo has to forcibly remove from the room. On the way out, Gonzo kicks a dead mouse from the steps of the lānai.

As they move from one patient to the next, the islanders scatter. They gather in groups and whisper amongst themselves.

The fourth patient has expired before their arrival. The doctors spend their time looking over the body, but finding nothing unusual about it from the others, release it to the pirates. The pirates wrap the body using the bed sheet as a shroud and place it on the stretcher. "We'll catch up on the next one, yeah?" Gonzo asks the doctors as they leave.

Sturgeon nods. "This one's not much of a fighter," he says.

They carry the body off. The islanders that huddled in groups suddenly become interested, but cautious. The groups disperse into lines as they watch the pirates pass, eyes glued to the figure on the stretcher. The islanders part the way for Gonzo and Nudge. The two drop the body off at Dampé's intake. The gravedigger has not returned yet from the looks of it.

The rest of the day is much the same.

That is until they finish their second drop for the day. "Aloha 'auinalā!" Link calls to them. "Pehea 'olua?"

"As good as we can be," Gonzo says, and Nudge nods in agreement.

Nudge asks, "How you say that again?"

"Maika'i no au," says Link. "I'm fine."

The pirates try to slowly emulate the sounds. Link laughs, and repeats the phrase slower for them. Gonzo waves it off, having long since given up on trying to understand the islanders much to Link's humor, but Nudge still tries.

Gonzo glances sidelong at Nudge. "Hey, go on without me, yeah?" he says to Nudge. "I need to talk to Link."

Link's eyebrow cocks. "Me?" he says with surprise.

"Aye," Nudge replies to Gonzo, the two pirate ignoring Link. "I'll let them know you're on your way."

Gonzo waves Link to follow. Once Gonzo is sure they're out of earshot of any curious ears, he stops, plopping himself down on a good sized rock. With a wave of his hand the burly man says, "Sit, mate."

Link shakes his head. "Sorry, can't." He feels a tugging at the corner of his mouth when Gonzo's low chuckle sounds.

"Too on edge, yeah?"

Link nods, and he begins to pace. He rips the mask from his face.

"Miss Tetra's worried about ships off the coast. Says they're circling the island."

Link's steps falter, and his eyes dart to Tetra's first mate. "Yeah? She said that to you, huh?" he mumbles.

"Link, I don't know what you're about to do," the pirate says seriously, hands on his knees, which makes Link stand still, "but there will be hell for you to pay if you don't bring her back in one piece." Gonzo straightens, and his chin is raised.

The young man sighs and kicks at the dirt underfoot. "We're going to the Forest Haven." Gonzo waits patiently for any elaboration. "There's… Great Fish Isle has caught a fever similar to ours, or it may be the same thing, who knows?"

"How'd you hear about this?"

"From Dr. Borville's assistants," Link says wearily. "We're able to still have some communication with Windfall; just enough to receive orders."

Gonzo nods. "When I get up at dawn, I see that one Rito coming close to shore sometimes, but he keeps his distance.

"What're you 'bout to do, lad?"

Link's eyes flit to Gonzo briefly. The small curve shy smile lifts his mouth. "I was uh…" and he laughs again. He scratches the back of his neck. As he seats himself on the ground near Gonzo, Link says, "I was going to see Ilia, actually."

"Ah."

Though awkward, the two men chuckle to themselves. It crescendos into hoots, that they quickly stifle.

"I don't think I need to now," Link says, still fighting the bubbling in his chest.

Gonzo leans over and nudges Link's shoulder. "What do ya think of her?"

"She's- she's nice," Link stumbles.

Gonzo throws himself back laughing. "Just 'nice'?" he cries. Link licks his lips, rubbing his chin, and he tries to keep his eyes averted from the pirate. "Oh lad, you'll be in trouble."

"Mahalo, mate."

Gonzo drags himself up from his seat on the rock. "Listen, lad. I gotta get back to work," he says, the good humor never leaving his voice. He leans and ruffles Link's hair, who gives a strangled cry of protest. "Good talk, yeah? You should come 'round more at the inn. We don't bite… much."

"Yeah, yeah," Link grumbles. He struggles to put his cowlicks back in place. "Aloha 'oe!" he calls back to Gonzo.

When Gonzo catches up to the doctors on rounds, they eye him with curiosity but know better than to ask. This next patient passed during the night, and upon seeing Gonzo approach, the hysterical widow tries to claw her way in. Nudge holds her off. Gonzo sighs and hurries his pace.

Together, Gonzo and Nudge try to calm the woman down long enough to let the doctors and Shad slip in to take a look at the body. By the time Shad sticks his head out of room to tell them to take the body back to the office for further examination, the widow is at Gonzo's feet in a pool of fabric, wailing.

Gonzo sighs again.

This isn't even the last patient on the list.

* * *

I didn't have my interview. I caught a cold, which I'm still wishing I could take another day in bed for, but I spent all weekend doing just that already. So, sorry about the late update, but I really do appreciate the comments left in the meantime! Truly. I hope this chapter is a nice break away from being so Link-centered.

For now, I'm just gonna go sink into my hoodie and hope that nobody notices I'm basically absent today.

Shhhh.

Dx


	10. The Static

Between the Devil and the Deep Sea

10.0

The Static

Two days before the first of 'Iaunuali, Orca runs Link ragged with orders as the midmorning sun bears down on them. Link rubs the back of his forearm across his brow, trying to get rid of the sweat that pools at his hairline. After he finishes unloading their last catch of fish up at the market, Orca releases him from work for the day. Link throws his arms back in a stretch, eager for the relief. "Here," says Orca, gesturing to a crate, "take some of that with you. Share it with your friends."

"Huh?" he says dumbly, recoiling from the stretch and slumping over.

"Tetra and her men," Orca says. "Share it with them. They're probably not faring well on the food front considering."

Link looks around the market. Supplies are from off the island are getting low, and the prices are reflecting that in everything. "Aryll was told some pears would cost us thirty rupees right after someone else was charged ten," Link says wistfully.

Orca stops the vendor from grabbing the crate he pointed out. "Not these," he says. "We're keeping those."

Link waits around for Orca and the vendor to settle the debts to collect his own pay for the day.

"You sure about this?" Link says, hoisting up the fish. Already they're starting to smell a bit funny. Usually they were kept alive until sold, but the shortage in incoming food demanded a greater intake of the island's resources.

"Give the men a good lunch before they go bad," Orca says. "A hui hou!"

Up at the inn, Anju is more than happy to cook up the fish, though a part of Link fears she might actually end up botching the meal. He stays in the kitchen with her, gutting the fish for her. "You should take some of Grog's eggs to your grandmother," Anju suggests absently as she cooks.

"Anju, the pepper!"

She yelps, the pepper grinder in her hand flying out. "Oh! E kala mai ia'u!" she babbles, and she hurries to try and scrape the excess seasoning off. "Sorry, sorry…"

Link gently moves her out of the way. "Here," he says, taking over the grill. "It's fine, see?"

"Should I finish gutting?"

Link hesitates but is saved when "I'll do it," comes from the doorway.

"Miss Tetra!" Anju exclaims. "How are you?"

"It's going," Zelda grumbles, picking up where Link left off.

"Hey Anju," Link calls. "Can you grab a plate, please?"

"I'm sorry! I should have gotten them before!" she says, completely ignoring the way Link waves off her apologies. Anju mutters to herself, "I'll get the table all set," as she whisks herself out of the kitchen. Link mouths a quick prayer to Nayru that she won't drop anything.

Zelda laughs softly to herself.

"So, where you been?" she asks. "You haven't been around here much."

"I dunno," he says. "I keep finding this girl in my boat. I've been trying to find a way to keep her out, but nothing seems to work."

She quips, "Funny.

"Hey, how do you say 'fish'?"

"I'a."

"_Ee-ah_?" she repeats to herself.

Later on in the afternoon, Mako ropes Link in playing a few games of 'ulu maika with him and the rest of the pirates. On the sidelines of the game, as they all taunt Mako on, Link catches a glance of the captain off to the side, leaning against the outer wall of the inn and beaming at her crew. There's a light in her eyes, Link doesn't think he's seen before, or at least that he can remember. Her relaxed smile isn't tainted by any stress or strain.

As Senza goes to take his turn, she catches his eye, and Link has to look away.

Dinner with Kūkū is a quiet affair, but Aryll is pleased that the tensions between her brother and the captain have receded, even if temporarily. "Tetra," Aryll calls. "Are all of you going to celebrate with us?"

"Celebrate?"

"There's usually a big celebration for the new year," Link explains. "People will start getting things together for it in the morning."

"It's down in the market square, by the hālau," says Aryll.

"Hālau?" Zelda repeats, confused.

Link says, "The meeting house."

"It would be a nice break away from all that's been going on," Kūkū offers.

The captain's brow needles as she looks around the table. "Wouldn't people be afraid to gather like that?"

Link shrugs. "I said 'usually'."

His grandmother says, "Some will stay away, but it's a much needed distraction. Don't you think?" Zelda's lips purse as she considers this.

"I haven't see Rose out in a while," Aryll says. Link has wondered this too, and he mumbles his thoughts on it as well. His sister muses, "Maybe she is planning something for the new year."

After dinner, Link retires for the night. He opens the slats to his window to allow the crosswinds in. Flopping onto his pallet, he curls into his blankets and listens to the cadence of voices drift through the bungalow. Eventually the sounds fade away.

He's startled when in the darkness there's movement. Link tenses. The house is silent, his family long since retiring as well. He slows his breathing, and he waits. The muscles in his fingers urge to twitch, but he fights it. His eyes rove the dim the room.

His breath rattles in a mix of surprise and relief when Link feels the weight bear down on the pallet to lie next to him.

With one finger, he rubs the sand from his eyes. "I have to work in the morning, you know," Link mutters.

She hums next to him. She has one leg propped up, and she kicks it absently. It's a soft, simple tune, one he doesn't recognize, so he asks her, "Is that from the mainland?"

"Hm?"

"That tune."

"My mother sang it to me."

"It's nice."

In his sleep, he'd kicked the blanket from himself. He throws one end over his feet, and then Link pulls the blanket over most his head. She asks if he's even hot, but he merely grunts in response. His eyes feel heavy as the tune relaxes him, and another visit from the sandman is upon him, when she starts to speak.

Her voice is jarring against the silence with the music gone.

"Hey," she says. "I've been thinking. Teach me more of your language."

"Huh?"

"I want to learn your language."

"Oh," he sighs, his mind adrift in the sand dunes of sleep.

"Link?"

But he's already been swallowed by the sand.

Link and Orca's catch the next morning isn't nearly as large, but these they keep alive in water, knowing today's a special day. He's chastised by Orca for nodding off a few times – he'd lost count after three, and "Honestly, boy, you weren't raised to laze about" – and by the time Link's released for the day, he feels a large yawn pulling at his jaw. He considers taking a nap in his waka ama, knowing that he'll probably be left undisturbed there.

However, his stomach protests the motion.

So lunch it is.

He passes Sturgeon's office on his way home, and he pauses outside. He wonders if anybody is in today, so his feet carry him inside. "Hello?" he calls, stepping through the threshold. "Aloha?" He hears movement from the backroom.

Of course.

If anybody's in, it's the assistants.

Shad and Ilia are both scribbling away notes when he walks into the room. "Pehea 'olua?" he asks, taking one of the stools. He spins around on it.

"What's that?" Ilia asks.

Link stops spinning. "Pehea 'olua?" he repeats. "How're you?"

"Oh," Ilia giggles, a little embarrassed. Pink tints her cheeks. "Sorry. I suppose we're both doing the best we can. Right, Shad?"

"Yes, yes."

His stomach rumbles again, and Shad laughs at him. "Ready for a bite then?" Shad asks, as usual, never looking up from his work.

"I was on my way home," says Link. "Just decided to drop by and see how things are going."

"Dr. Borville and Sturgeon are on rounds," Shad says. "We had five yesterday." And Link knows immediately, he's talking about the body count. He hesitates to ask, but lets his curiosity win out. "Oh yes. Five isn't that bad," the assistant says with an air of nonchalance as Ilia nods. "We've had much worse."

The whole thing leaves a bad taste in Link's mouth.

Not wanting to completely spoil his appetite, Link quickly changes the subject. "Listen, we usually have a celebration for the new year. Would you like to come with me?"

Shad answers immediately, "No thanks, chap. Those big events are far too noisy." Oh, right. Of course. "I appreciate the offer."

"I'll go," says Ilia, beaming. "You're being a stick in the mud, Shad."

"No rest for the wicked, Ilia."

"I hardly think us wicked."

"Just an expression."

Ilia rolls her eyes at him, which Shad doesn't notice as he still remains bent over his work. She leans over and taps him on the shoulder, finally getting his full attention for the first time. The pen in his hand pauses when he looks up at her expectantly. "I'm going to take lunch," she says. "Is that okay?"

"Of course," he says quickly, and then Shad dives back to work. Ilia sighs and rises from her seat, stretching out her tired muscles.

"Come on, Link," she says. "I'm sure Anju has something cooked up back at the inn."

The calling of his stomach is strong, and he follows her to the inn fully expecting to run into one of the pirates. Mako and Zuko are in the common room when they arrive, playing a game of konane. Ilia wanders off to find Anju while Link stays to chat with the pirates. Mako excitedly tells Link about each of the books he'd been loaned from Sturgeon in rapid succession. Zuko doesn't participate much, concentrating on the game instead. When Link or Mako speak to him, they slow their speech and exaggerate their movements. Sometimes they have to repeat themselves, but the pirate eventually gets the gist of what they're saying.

Eventually, Ilia calls for him, and Link takes his leave from watching the pirates play their game and chatting. Carrying two bowls out from the kitchen, Ilia hands one off to Link. He pokes his head into the kitchen, and Link calls out a greeting to Anju, which she returns. He follows Ilia outside the inn, and they pick a spot out on the lawn looking out over the island.

Anju made cucco soup for lunch. The seasonings fill his nostrils, and Link breathes it in deeply.

"Back in Ordon, we have pumpkin fields," Ilia tells him.

Link asks, "What's a pumpkin?"

"You've never seen one?" she asks surprised. Link shakes his head. "Oh, well they're a kind of squash. They're pretty big and round, and they have these ridges that go down from the stem."

"What color are they?"

"Orange."

"Like a mango?"

"Too bright. They're a lot deeper."

"I guess mangoes are more yellow," says Link.

He listens with quiet interest as she tells him about the pumpkin soup her father would make, and how in the fall, the whole village would come together to tend to the harvest so the pumpkins could be shipped to the rest of Hyrule proper for sale.

"It's my favorite time of year," she says.

"Why? It sounds like a lot of work."

"The leaves start to change colors," Ilia gushes in a way that makes it hard for Link to hide the smile that breaks across his face. "Like you won't believe, Link. They turn to reds and yellows and oranges. At the end of the season, all the leaves come off the trees for winter."

Link lets his bowl of soup rest in his lap. His eyes rove over all the green foliage that covers the island.

* * *

Psh, so it turns out I had an infection not a cold like a thought. I'm finally getting back in the groove of things, and I've been feeling hella better since getting antibiotics. I just hope nothing else crops up now.

I'm actually very excited for the next chapter, so I'll see you guys next week! Drop a word!

:3


	11. The New Year

Between the Devil and the Deep Sea

11.0

The New Year

Torches line the market square, and in the center, a large bonfire roars. The islanders willing to risk attending the gathering whirl between one another as they dance, enjoying the music. There is only a small fraction of people attending this year than in previous years, and islanders that Link hasn't seen in a while are in attendance, finally emerging from their homes. Drums beat, and the islanders' footfalls thump the earth. The brave, or the foolhardy, don't wear any masks, only their wide smiles are on display as they move through the dance. Through the throng of people and the dizzying pattern of the dance, Link catches sight of Aryll and Zelda here and there. Ilia is on his right, being dragged along through the motions of the dance but enjoying it none the less.

When he finds a reprieve to escape, Link slips out of Ilia's grasp and finds Gonzo and Senza hanging off to the side. "Oi, Link!" Gonzo calls. "Care for a drink?" Senza takes a quick swig of a bottle before passing it to Link.

Unsure of what it is, Link takes a whiff of the liquid sloshing inside. His face scrunches in distaste when the pungent smell hits him, twangy. The pirates laugh at him. "Just give it a try," Senza says, and Link does. The drink burns a little going down his throat, and he coughs a little, not expecting that effect.

"Farore! What is that?" he spits, handing off the bottle to Gonzo. Link rubs his chest where a small fire feels like it is burning.

The two laugh. "It's whiskey we've been holding onto," says Gonzo, and he takes a drink of it. "Good, yeah?" And the pirates laugh again at Link's expression.

Link rubs his mouth with the back of his hand.

He stands off to the side with the two pirates, watching the dance progress. Ilia floats by, and then Aryll and Zelda. Senza wanders off after a period of time, and Gonzo passes the liquor to Link, who's hesitant to take another drink, but the warm feeling that stays after the burning subsides is decidedly pleasant. Link grimaces a little after downing another gulp of the liquor and hands it back off to Gonzo as they watch the dancers.

Gonzo leans over, "Still just 'nice', yeah?"

It takes Link a moment before he catches on, and the laughter bursts up from his belly. Gonzo gives Link a nudge with his elbow, laughing along with the lad. When he finally catches his breath, Link can feel the wet tears that cling to his eyelashes, and he rubs them away.

"I'm uh, I'm gonna go grab some food," says Link, and he head over to the hālau.

Inside the hālau, a small fire crackles where fish is being cooked, smoke wafting up through the hole in the roof. People are packed in tightly to get their share of food brought. He accidentally bumps straight into Sue-Belle, and she gives a rushed apology before realizing who it is. "Oh, Link!"

"Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!"

She seems a little stunned, but a smile brightens her face and a little sigh of relief escapes her. "Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!" she returns. She falters at saying anything else.

"It's okay, Sue-Belle," Link says. "I understand."

"I don't mean-" she tries, but Link shakes his head, cutting her off.

"It's okay. Really."

She says softly, "Mahalo."

"'A'ole pilikia."

Sue-Belle nods, and she turns to go. Link, the thought striking him, reaches out to grab her shoulder. She turns back to him, dark hair, swirling with her. "I uh… I haven't seen Rose in a few days," he says to her. "Have you?"

She shakes her head. "No, I haven't either."

They don't say anything for a minute. Link feels that sickening dread seeping into his stomach again much like he did when he returned from crabbing in Nowemapa to find out that Niko had passed. A shiver runs through him, and Sue-Belle gives him a questioning look.

"I'll check on her tomorrow," Link promises.

"I hope everything is alright."

"Me too."

No longer feeling hungry, Link turns to leave when he hears Aryll calling. His eyes scan the crowd trying to pick out his little sister when Sue-Belle lightly touches his arm to get his attention again. She wraps him in a tight hug, and he's hesitant to return it until he hears her whisper in his ear, "E kala mai ia'u. I didn't mean to ignore you like I have."

She pulls away and says, "Let me know?"

"Of course."

"Thank you, Link," she says, a small, genuine smile on her face. She turns away and disappears off into the people.

Link hears his name being called again, and he finds Aryll standing with Zelda and Ilia by the entrance of the hālau. "Have you been in here this whole time?" Aryll chides him.

He shakes his head. "No, I was just talking to Sue-Belle," he tells her.

"Oh," Aryll says so softly, he barely hears it over the chatter in the meeting house. "She hasn't spoken to either of us in so long."

"I know." The day where she turned away from him like the other islanders is still fresh on his mind. The sting is still there, but Link reminds himself to let it go.

Aryll shakes it off, and she proclaims, "Well, I'm going to grab something to eat!" The blonde marches off with Ilia in tow.

Zelda sidles up next to him, and the two fall back to the outer wall of the hālau. They haven't spoken much all day, which Link supposes isn't too far from the normal. He waits by her side, and she sniffs a little, crossing her arms. "Hey," she says finally, and it makes Link chuckle a little. "So uh…" Her nose wrinkles. "Hau'oli Makahiki Hou" is what she tries to say next, but her pronunciation is off. "Or whatever," she finishes, which makes him laugh.

He corrects her, and she tries it again.

"I'll get it," says Zelda with that classic determination of hers. Link doesn't doubt her.

She starts describing some fish she'd seen off the shore earlier that day. They were an almond shape, streaked with bright colors over white and blue. When she asked Anju about them, the clumsy inn keeper taught her the name, which Zelda trips over. "Why does it have to be so long?" she groans. "How do you all deal with that?"

"We only have thirteen letters."

"I know! That's half of what Hylian has!" she complains, throwing her arms up.

"I would have to argue and say that more is more complicated."

"How do you say the name of that fish again?"

"Humuhumunukunukuapua'a."

"And you don't see anything wrong with- oh stop laughing at me!" But she has a smile on her face that she's fighting to keep down in her usual scowl.

She clears her throat and crosses her arms again. "You sure about this? About what we're doing?" she asks him seriously.

He hesitates to answer. Not knowing how to answer her, he instead opts to deflect the question. "Can we not talk about it here?" he asks her. "I don't think it's a good idea."

She waves her hand, telling him to look around at all the people, which is exactly his point. "And it's _my_ point, too," she says. "Public affairs are so private."

"How is this private?" he snaps.

But he takes another look, and all of a sudden, that familiar feeling he gets when he argues with Zelda hits him, and his argument deflates.

Nayru, is she ever clever.

"Can it wait?" he sighs.

"Fine."

Link's eyes drift over the people, and he spots three of Zelda's men across the way, talking amongst one another, passing the liquor bottle between them. Nudge, Gonzo and Senza pay no mind to the islanders, and for once, it looks as though the islanders aren't hyper aware of the pirates either.

"What's taking Aryll so long?" Link mumbles, pulling himself up from the wall.

Zelda trails after him as they weave through people to find Aryll and Ilia. Finding them, however, also leads Link face-to-face with the Bombers leader, Jim. He scoffs at them. "Should have known it'd be the Forneys to bring the outsiders here."

"Your point?" Link growls, feeling Aryll and Ilia shrink behind him. Aryll slips away into the throng of people.

"Don't you think it's _funny_ that a fever comes to the island not long after outsiders show up?" Jim sneers as some of the other Bombers members approach. "There's a reason we don't often let outsiders stay on Outset, Forney."

Link grits his teeth. Some of the islanders are taking notice of the argument stewing. "I don't see anyone but you making a fuss about them being here."

"You're a disgrace." The Bombers echo the sentiment, but Jim rounds on them, hissing, "Kulikuli!" The Bombers clap their mouths shut at the order.

"We are maoli," Link defends, "just as you are." He pauses, trying to decide, but then adds, "Lolo." It isn't the most scathing insult to grace his lips, but it's just enough to elicit a response from the Bomber, and Jim fists his hand. Link stiffens.

The impact never comes though.

Swift and slick like a cat, Zelda slips between Link and Jim. She knocks aside his flying fist, throwing off his balance, before driving her knee into his belly. Link lowers his guard, as he watches in amazement. The captain didn't earn her position among the crew without reason, that's for sure. The remaining pirates, brought by Aryll, come to form a half circle behind Link and Ilia, although it appears as though they're not needed. In a flash, the captain kicks Jim's feet out from under him, bringing him down to the ground. She hovers over him, waiting for him to try and get up, but he only rolls to one side groaning from the kick she'd delivered.

She whips her head up, glowering at the islanders that gathered around to witness the fight and daring them to help the Bomber.

Link's the first to break the tension. "Come on," Link says to Zelda, grabbing her wrist, "let's go."

The captain doesn't move.

He leans close to her ear and whispers, with his breath tickling the back of her ear, "Zelda, come on."

Slowly she turns away from Jim, ripping her arm free from Link. She storms out of the hālau with her crew following at her heels. Aryll glances between Link and the retreating pirates before choosing to rush after her favorite captain.

Ilia stiffens uncomfortably, eyes wide, as the islanders start to whisper. Grabbing her by the upper arm, Link leads her out after the pirates. The low hum of talk races after them, but Link tries his best to ignore it. The pirates slip off into the night. Intent on getting away from the festival, Link doesn't think to let go of Ilia until they're a ways away, the buzzing talk now silenced.

He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose, and then he rubs both his eyes. "E kala mai ia'u," he says to Ilia, letting his hands flop to his side.

"What?"

"Ah-" he stops short. Ilia stares at him blankly. "Um, don- don't worry about it," he mumbles, suddenly self-conscious.

"Are you okay?"

Link nods. "Look, I'm just gonna go out on the water for a bit," he says hastily, already turning to make his way to the beach where the Red Lion waits for him.

"Oh, alright."

Link stops, sighing to himself. He turns back to Ilia, and she waits expectantly for him to say something. "Did you… want to come with?" he offers. "You'll have to help me row though, there's not a lot of wind tonight."

She grins and nods.

They don't go too far from shore, and after a bit they just sit in the waka ama, enjoying the sinking feeling that comes when a crest of a wave pass underneath the outrigger. The only sound out on the water is the calling of the sea. Not even the seagulls are out causing a ruckus. A lantern sits on the floor of the hull between them, casting off a flickering light. Though he knows the dangers, Link cannot deny the amount of peace the ocean gives him.

"Hey, Ilia," he calls. "Where would you go in Ordon to get away?" There's no ocean in the middle of a forest. No crystal blue waves or seagulls. No white sand that burns the pads of your feet in the afternoons. No colorful fish or coral reefs.

Ilia shrugs. "There was a spring just outside of town," she tells him. "That was kind of like my special spot. We had a creek that ran through the town from the spring." She describes the mossy rocks, the reeds at the edge of the water. The spring was surrounded by great trees that shielded it in the shade, and Link wonders briefly how anyone could stand not to have the feeling of the warm sun on his skin.

"Listen, Link," says Ilia. "You don't have to go if you don't want to. Sturgeon and Borville can ask someone else. It's just that…" she trails off.

"Just what?" he croaks.

"Sturgeon trusts _you_. He says that out of everyone on the island, you'd come back. You'd do what's right."

"If the sea doesn't swallow me, I guess." The crest of a wave drags them upwards, and the waka ama creaks as if agreeing with him.

She gives him a flat look. "You'll be fine, I feel it," she says, and Link wishes he has that kind of confidence.

Waves lap at the Red Lion.

"You don't have to go, Link," she says again.

Link purses his lips and looks out across the dark waters. The island is a formidable, inky figure in the night, but at the heart of the island, the lights from the bonfires and torches cast a soft glow. It illuminates the market square with colors and warmth.

He cranes his neck and takes a look up at the moon, thinking that midnight has probably passed. Rolling his shoulders, he wishes the girl, "Hau'oli Makahiki Hou, Ilia."

She giggles a little when she says, "I'm sorry, I don't understand."

"Happy New Year, Ilia," he translates.

"Oh!" Ilia grins at him. "I suppose it is the New Year, huh?" she laughs, and then she returns the wish.

Suddenly, he can feel the tendrils of anxiety creep over him. It makes his heart thump louder, faster, and he can feel beads of sweat starting to swell up on his palms. His mind races, but he can't quite work out where the nervousness is coming from. When he speaks, he tries to keep the shake out of his voice. "Do you want to head back?" Link asks. He doesn't want to look at her, but he forces a quick glance, and he can tell just from the look in her eyes that she doesn't.

Ilia doesn't answer though, so he turns around in the hull and picks up an oar, and she takes the other one. Together they row the waka ama back onto shore. Unsure of what to do once back on shore, Ilia waits on the beach while Link drags the outrigger onto shore. He muses that the task is much easier with Zelda helping.

"I'll walk you back," he tells her once the boat is secure. He blows out the lantern, shrouding them in darkness, and stashes it away in the main hull. It takes a bit for his eyes to adjust, but the beach is familiar to him. Having walked it hundreds of times, his feet know it by memory.

When they enter the inn, Anju isn't at the front desk, her paperwork in neat piles. The rowdy voices of the pirates in the common room drifts into the lobby as Link and Ilia pass through. He stands awkwardly in the hall while she fishes her room key out of her pocket to unlock the door. "Got it," she laughs when the door creaks open.

He gives her a tight smile and turns to go. Lightly, he feels her fingers wrap around his arm. Turning back to her, he only gets an "'Ae?" out before her lips crash into his. Suddenly, everything is hotter, tighter. Claustrophobic, almost.

When he blinks again, her door is closed, and Link is still standing stupidly in the hall. Blood pumps in his ears as his eyes start to blur again, the wood grain on the door becoming indistinguishable.

Rousing from his stupor, Link spins on one foot and hurries down the hall. As Link barrels into the lobby, Gonzo stumbles out from the common room, his cheeks pink with drink. "AYELINK!" Gonzo slurs into one word. The other pirates whoop and laugh at hearing Link's name, calling for him to join their games. How long had he been standing in the hall? Link takes a look into the common room where the pirates have gathered, almost all of them merry thanks to liquor. "Come ply a game, yeah?" Gonzo asks.

"Uh, no," Link stutters out, locking eyes with Zelda, the only sober one in the group. "I have to go."

"Wass wrung wit' yer face, lad?" Gonzo laughs, leaning towards Link. "Been drinkin'?"

"I have to go," Link repeats, stepping away.

Zelda's lips purse into a thin line. She shakes her head.

* * *

Let me just take a moment to say HOW FREAKING STOKED I AM FOR HYRULE WARRIORS.

Like, I don't want to work. Hyrule needs some savin'!

=:O


	12. The Dawning and the Dusking

Between the Devil and the Deep Sea

12.0

The Dawning and Dusking

Link ignores Aryll when he bursts into the bungalow. She badgers him with questions, once even pausing to take note of his still reddened face, but he pushes his sister aside. "Link?" she calls one last time. He doesn't answer her, and he crawls into his bed, pulling his blankets over his head with a groan.

He learns that Zelda never returned home the night before; Aryll left her at the inn sometime before Link and Ilia arrived. He eats his late breakfast in silence, and while Aryll still persists on trying to speak with him, Kūkū seems to understand. She pats his shoulder lightly, telling him, "Hau'oli Makahiki Hou, mo'opuna," and doesn't bother him the rest of the day.

He wanders down towards the Red Lion, but Link quickly realizes that that would be the first place someone would look for him. Instead, he heads over to Aryll's lookout, stopping on occasion to look over his shoulder. The island is quiet as it usually is the first of the year, and there are few people about. Link spies some islanders that witnessed his spat with Jim peering at him, though they try to do so inconspicuously. Something though, makes him feel off. It bristles the back of his neck as he walks to the lookout.

Link drapes his legs over the edge of the lookout, rests his forehead against the railing and curls an arm around a baluster. The ocean is unusually calm today, he thinks, watching the waves lazily lap at the island with little care. The ripples in the crystal waters don't churn like they usually do.

That bristling crops up again.

But it turns out to be only Zelda, and the tension in Link's shoulders release as she seats herself next to him. "Aloha," she mutters, her amethyst eyes scanning the waters much like him. "Pehea 'oukou?"

Link grumbles at her, "Pa'ahana nō au."

Zelda pops her hand on the back of his head. "Oh come off it!" the captain bites. "You are _not_ busy doing anything!"

They sit stewing in silence, both pillars built from stubbornness. The sun warms their skin, and Link glances over at the captain. She almost catches him, and he averts his eyes just in time. He doesn't say anything, but it dawns on him: she'd understood him.

"… It's 'Pehea 'oe?'" he corrects her.

"Huh? Don't you say ''oukou' when you come home?"

"'Ae, but you, Aryll and Kūkū are there." He explains to her, "I'm not three people. I'm one."

A smirk worms its way onto her face, and a few bubbles of laughter come up her throat, but she doesn't let them go.

"Have you been following me?"

"I saw you heading towards the beach, but then you didn't go," she says.

He gives and indistinguishable grunt.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Zelda rolls her eyes, and _tsks_ at him. "Oh, that's a big pile of horseshit," she curses. "You always go to your boat when something's wrong."

"I'm not at my boat," he points out.

"I figured it was probably worse than the boat."

"Not that maybe I didn't want to be found?" he snaps. She gives him a bored look that deflates his rising irritation some. "… What?"

"I dunno, I thought we were friends," she says. Devilish woman. Using his own words on him. "Don't friends hash shit out with each other? Am I not a hoapili?" Hoapili. She knows that word? Link fights the tugging on his mouth.

"I didn't take you to be uncouth."

"I'm a pirate."

"You're also a merchant's daughter."

She chuckles lowly.

Link sighs, and he says to her, "I think Ilia kissed me last night."

Her expression is a mix of disbelief and scowling. "You _think_?" she questions, biting laughter in her voice that mocks him. "You were there, lolo. How do you _not_ know?"

"I- I dunno!" he exclaims. "It just… I dunno, happened?"

She rolls her eyes again and gives him an exasperated sigh. Zelda flops onto her back, her legs kicking out on the winter air.

"Do you know what 'makmaka' means?" he asks suddenly. When she says that she doesn't, he tells her, "It's better than hoapili… you know?" He hesitates, trying to find the right words in Hylian to describe it. "I don't think of you as a hoapili-"

"But makamaka?" she asks, catching on to what he's trying to convey to her. "Is that still just friend territory, or are we in that 'Oh, she's like a sister' friend?" she jokes.

Zelda asks, "What's 'maoli' then?" Link blinks at her. "You used it last night."

"Um…" he says, trying to think and looking back out to the stretching waters. "Native," he decides. "That's a good equivalent, I think."

The captain reaches up and tugs on his sleeve after a bit. "So fish," she says. "That i'a." Link nods. She remembered, and he feels a little spark in his chest at that. "So what's the water? The ocean?"

"Ka moana."

"Island?"

"Ka moku."

And for the rest of the afternoon, they play this naming game. The captain points to things, and Link translates it for her. She copies the strange sounds. "Nalu," she repeats for when a large wave finally rolls in without Link having to tell her the word again.

They're late for dinner, but still the pair takes their time walking back to their home. As they pass by, Link sees Sue-Belle looking out the window of her bungalow. He falters in his steps, yet he still waves at her. Her smile is tight, but Sue-Belle waves back.

"So what're you going to do about Ilia?" Zelda asks him.

"Huh?" Oh, right. He _should_ do something. He just doesn't know what that something is, and his mind whirls trying to think of an answer.

"Are you serious, Link?" she rounds. Zelda groans, rubbing her eyes. How stupid is he?

He shrugs. "What is there to do?"

"Nothing if you fancy her, which Gonzo says you do," she teases, which effectively embarrasses him. She laughs. "'AE!" Zelda shouts. "Your face is pink!"

"Kulikuli!" Link groans, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He ups his pace, determined to out-walk her, but Zelda easily sidles back up to him.

The smug smirk on her face grates on him, and Link tries to speed up again. "That's not going to work," she says. He stops in his tracks, whipping around to face her. The captain raises her eyebrows. Link says nothing. Instead, he flings his back to her and bolts up the path to the western cliffs. Zelda flies after him. Islanders stumble out of their way as they rush by.

Link suddenly skids to a stop out by Rose's house, and Zelda nearly plows into him. She stumbles to a stop ahead of him, her chest heaving. "What're you doing?" she gasps.

"I have to check on Rose," he says. "Tell them I'll be home in a bit!"

His legs heavy from the run, Link drags himself up on Rose's lānai. He knocks on the door, calling, "Rose? Abe? It's Link!"

Rose's husband, Abe, answers the door. He barely cracks the door open, only revealing a small sliver of his face. "Link?" he says. "What do you need?"

"Sue-Belle and I haven't seen Rose lately. We were worried, and I promised Sue-Belle I'd check in," he tells.

Abe suddenly shuts the door.

Link looks around, trying to find any reason for the strange behavior. Zelda is nowhere in sight, and there is no one else hanging around. He turns back to the door, unsure if he should knock again, or what he should tell Sue-Belle the next chance he has to speak with her. He decides to knock again, when Abe cracks open the door again.

"Link?"

"Uh, 'ae?"

The eye that peers through the crack darts around, never focusing on one spot for very long. "Listen, ah… you're good friends with Sturgeon, right?"

"'Ae," Link says slowly. "Ia he hoapili."

"Will you… will you ask him to see Rose?" he asks. "In the morning?"

"… Of course."

"Aloha 'oe, Link," Abe says, and the door snaps shut abruptly again. As Link turns to go, feeling queer about the exchange, Abe opens the door again. He calls, "Mahalo, Link!"

"A'ole pilikia," Link replies. Before Abe closes the door again, Link adds, "Aloha ahiahi."

"What took you so long?" is the first thing out of Aryll's mouth when Link comes through the door.

"I was at Rose's," he grumbles, leading her to the kitchen where her dinner sits half eaten. Zelda is at the table with Kūkū, already digging into her own food. Kūkū smiles at him, and gets up to get him a plate. "Pehea 'oukou?" he asks his family as he pulls out a chair.

He thanks his grandmother when she hands him his food. "You seem to be in a better mood," Kūkū comments.

He shrugs.

"He has a thing for Dr. Borville's assistant," Zelda interjects.

He can feel heat trying to creep across his cheeks. "I do _not_," he defends heatedly.

Aryll giggles as Zelda leans towards her, poking her fork in his direction. "See?" she says slyly to his sister.

"I haven't met her," says Kūkū innocently. "Why haven't you brought her around, Link?" He groans into his hands as his sister and the pirate captain suppress their giggling. "Is she pretty?"

"She's just a friend, Kūkū," he tells her.

"Huapua," Aryll teases him.

Link's chair groans as it scrapes the floor. He pops up from the seat. "Good night!" he says, grabbing up his food to take to his room.

Aryll whines, "Aw, come on, Link!"

He ignores her, and retires to bed, stuffing down the last of his food. Link can't be sure about it in the morning, but he thinks when he rises that Zelda had visited him in the night, speaking softly about all manner of things to him. He remembers responding, but not about what. He groans a little as he picks himself up from his pallet, kicking away his blankets. Not having changed out of his clothes from the day before, Link simply rises, shakes out his hair and slips on his skimmers before heading out into the brisk morning.

Sturgeon is in when he arrives at the office, and to Link's surprised relief, neither of the assistants are in yet. Dr. Borville is looking over some files when Link walks in. The doctors greet him, and Borville whips around the office on his stool to gather up some papers. He hands them to Link.

Link flips through them. Pictures and notes scribbled in Hylian litter the pages. "This is…?" his voice lingers as his eyes rove the drawings. "This is what you need me to get?"

"Yes, son," Sturgeon says, shuffling past Link to file away some paperwork in a cabinet. "If you ask, Orca will help you get provisions ready."

Link nods in understanding, pocketing the papers he was given, before asking the doctors to add Rose to their rounds that morning.

"Symptoms?"

Link shakes his head. "I only spoke to Abe briefly."

The doctors agree to add Rose to their list of patients.

"When should I leave?" Link asks.

The doctors exchange looks, and Sturgeon says, "Whenever you're ready, Link."

"Though you should know each day counts."

"… Right," Link mumbles and hurries out of the office.

Link spends the day cleaning the bungalow again with his family. With Zelda's help, he pulls all the furniture out from against the walls, and Aryll and Kūkū sweep up in the newly empty spaces. Link finds a rat out on the lānai when he steps out to sweep and kicks it off into the ocean. The kitchen cupboards are emptied and cleaned out, all the dishes washed again. Kūkū gathers up all the laundry, beddings and sheets and with Aryll, they wash the laundry. Zelda helps to set out the linens and clothes on the lānai to dry. They work to clean the whole house, and the next free day Link has, they'll do it all again.

Link waits up after his grandmother and sister have fallen asleep for the night. The light padding of the captain's footsteps reaches his ears, and he climbs down from his room. "Zelda," he whispers into the dark. The padding stops. "Where are you?"

"Over here," she replies, which does nothing to help in the darkness. Link rolls his eyes.

The ladder creaks under his weight, and he drags himself back up to his room, telling her to follow.

"What is it?" asks Zelda as she settles on his bed.

The moonlight floods his room, and he pulls out the papers the doctors gave him. "This is what Borville needs," he says, handing her the papers.

She squints trying to make out the details in the moonlight. "Give me a light, will you?"

The yellow-orange glow from the lantern casts a warm hue over her skin, contrasting the blue shadows. "Oh that's nice," she mutters. "They gave you pictures." Link frowns, hearing the unspoken insult. The captain smirks at him, telling him to lighten up.

"You're being childish."

"What! Me?"

Zelda sighs. The papers slap onto his bed. "How are we going to survive a trip on an outrigger together?"

He shrugs. "Same way we've had so far?"

She chuckles. "We'll make it back, Link," she assures him. "We kind of _have _to.

"And when we come back, you can fight with your sister, get fussed over by your grandmother – who will make entirely way too much soup," she rambles on. Link starts to laugh, trying to keep quiet so he doesn't wake his family. "And you can sail off into the sunset with the doctor's assistant and live happily ever after in some farfetched fairy tale."

"What about you?"

"Once the quarantine's off, I'll build a new boat with the boys, and we can float off wherever the wind goes."

"It won't be as good a ship as your last one."

"Then I guess I'll have to steal some poor bloke's vessel."

"When do you want to leave, Zelda?" he asks.

The captain lies back on his pallet. "As soon as we can.

"Oh – what's wrong now?"

Link shakes his head. "I just… never mind," he tells the captain. "It doesn't concern you."

* * *

So this has been everything that I written prior to posting this story, barring edits I've made. I'm going to keep trying to get new chapters out on Fridays, but things are starting to pick up with work again. I'll see how it goes, but I'd like to keep up the regular updates.

Anyway, enjoy the weekend, guys! Drop a word!

;D


End file.
